Victoria Burning – Gippsland Monday, 6pm

ABC radio has announced there are 21 dead in this area, 130 all up and they expect to find more. It will take months for investigators to sift through burnt homes. We are virtually cut off from TV, with one Melbourne channel, 10. No local channels at all, so cannot envision the rest of the State.

The Churchill fire has broken containment lines, and local communities are again on high alert. They have been told it is too late to run.

I spoke with a client in Yarram today, who told me two locals had died, she provided me with their names, I cried. A little later I gathered the courage to ring one of their relatives, right name, wrong family. I still cried.

On my way to post some mail after work, a fire truck roared past me with lights flashing and siren on. Tears again. I’m feeling sick with apprehension. I couldn’t imagine living in a war zone for months on end.

Victoria Burning Sunday 4pm.

We had Channel 9 back for a while, but it has disappeared again. News on the net says there are 9 dead in Gippsland so far. I hope and pray they are not amongst my friends, but they are someone’s friends and family. My heart goes out to them.