Toast: A story about fighting the Berowra bushfires and coping with post-traumatic stress (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

Our house was nearly toast at 4pm on Friday, December 6th, 2002. Fire came up out of our valley with a force and on a scale that seemed irrepressible. I was waiting with my son and the rest of the backyard brigade, holding our garden hoses and buckets, feeling rather futile confronting a wall of smoke and flame taller than our two-storey house. The fire brigade were below us on the fire trail we finished clearing that morning. Even with their big hoses, they looked helpless to stop it. Helicopters made the biggest difference between burnt toast and a different kind of toast we made to our neighbours and fire fighters at Saturday night’s thanksgiving party. The first thing that impressed me after the event was that every little thing that every family member, every neighbour and every fire fighter did before, during and after the firestorm was critical to the success of the operation. Every square metre of ground cleared, every spot fire doused, every hosing and every water bombing was equally important. The second thing to impress me was that the force of that fire was still greater than hoses, buckets and helicopters combined. I can’t believe they stopped it alone. Every house saved is a miracle. Thank God for my family, my neighbours, the fire fighters, the helicopter pilots, and His miracles. Like four independent witnesses, each member of my family contributes their own unique insight into those events and the thoughts and feelings they provoked. I hope it informs, inspires and entertains you.