Photos Fire fighting with a knife

[Currawong]

Australia has had a bunch of fires lately. Some beautiful old forests that I’ve been wandering around in for years were severely burnt. Yesterday I went into one of them, to see if anything had survived. This area burnt so hot it formed a pyrocumulonimbus cloud above it, so I didn’t hold out much hope.

As I set off from my property, this guy made it hard for me to close and lock my front gate.

I drove into the forest as far as I could, but beyond this point the road wasn't cleared and was covered in fallen trees, some large, some small.

The small ones I could handle.

I continued driving for a while, but eventually was stopped by the abundance of fallen trees. I would have to walk from here. It would be about 10 kilometres to the area I wanted to look at, a 20km walk overall.

A burnt tree fern grotto along the way. This area was once as green as anything you've ever seen.

I walked past kilometre after kilometre of burnt trees and tree ferns. Most of these trees are likely to survive (eucalypts regrow from 'epicormic shoots'), but I didn't hold much hope for the ferns.

At one point I heard the sound of hundreds of tiny screams. I looked around for the source. What's this ??? An animal entirely covered in knives !!!

It was jabbing it's knife-like nose into the burnt ground and sucking up ants. It didn't seem to care I was there, probably because it was carrying more knives than I was !!

The ants were swarming all over it, but they had no affect.

Continued.......

 

[Currawong]

Although the tree ferns were all burnt and black, some of them had new fronds emerging.

A big old fallen log contained a pool of water. After a fire, water is an extremely important resource to keep wildlife alive. Particularly since the usual water sources may be polluted with ash.

Another 'log pool'.

I began seeing patches of rainforest that were unburnt or only lightly burnt.

This big old rainforest tree was still covered in epiphytes, moss, lichen and vines.

The fire burned through this patch of rainforest, but it was a cool fire because the environment is naturally wet. It left living tree ferns, thick beds of green moss, and many other plants.

As I left the rainforest, this burnt tree fern looked like it was melting into the ground with mold.

Further along the trail, this white mold blob with goat horns was staring at me from the side of a fern.

 

[Currawong]

After 10km, I arrived at the big area of rainforest and old growth eucalypt forest I was seeking. This panorama shows how the hot fire burnt up to the edge of the wet forest and then stopped.

Walking down towards the wall of green beyond the burnt landscape.

Another cool fire, which barely touched the rainforest. On the left is a rainforest tree, its roots surrounding a treefern which had burnt. The treefern has died but the tree was still alive, and will end up with a hollow inside it where the fern used to be.

The burnt ground ahead was very rough, and now that I had to bushwack I dumped my pack and switched to just a knife. Why would I need to carry a large knife on a hike? Well, you never know......

The fire had burnt many trees and they had fallen over. Here about ten trees had fallen to create an impassable barrier in every direction.

Except for this bridge over a creek.

On the other side of the field of fallen trees, a burnt rainforest tree. This one still appeared to be alive, with a green canopy.

The fire had burnt out the roots of this large, multi-trunked rainforest tree, but it was also still alive.

The roots of a tree contains another pool of water. These are scattered all around the forest and are used by thirsty wildlife that are struggling to survive in the burnt landscape. Water is life!

 

[Andy the Aussie]

As I set off from my property, this guy made it hard for me to close and lock my front gate.

Tiger Snake I am guessing.... not someone you wish to annoy !

 

[PeteyTwoPointOne]

thanks for the pics...looks like a warzone

 

[Currawong]

Ahead I could see a strange white haze.

The ground was black and smoking. It was covered in dry vegetation that could easily start a new fire.

I used the Bushwacker Mistress to cut out a section of dirt. The forest floor here was a thick layer of roots and old vegetation mixed into the soil, creating a kind of turf. It was hot and smoking.

I cut out a large area and whacked the sods until they stopped smoking.

The Bushwacker sliced through the turf like butter.

After a wipe down on my pants, it looked as good as new. No visible damage to the edge, even after sawing through dirt and rocks.

Further on, more smoking ground.

There were many patches where the forest was still burning underground. This spot was burning in the roots of a still-living tree.

I dug down and could see the embers. The soil was extremely hot !!

When I poked it, sparks would shoot out.

 

[Currawong]

Nearby the ground had caught fire !!

I saw a number of flare ups while I was working. This whole area was still alight !

The ground was extremely hot and smoking beneath this log, where I couldn't access it.

I had no choice but to cut out the log.

The first section cut out. I kept going and cut the whole log out this way.

I cut and dug out a large area. It was hard work because now and then my feet would fall into the ground as it collapsed into small fiery pits.

I dug the area out by cutting chunks of sod and removing them.

They were all still smoking or burning, and I had to chop and bash them with the knife to put them out.

On just this one patch I dug out a large area before the fire went out, leaving a pit of still-hot ash.

Everything continued to burn after being dug up, so I chopped them into small pieces with the blade, bashed them out with the spine, flattened them with the flat of the blade, until they stopped smoking. I whacked so much burning turf that I've decided to rename my knife to a Firewacker Mistress !!

 

[Currawong]

Past the fire ground, there were patches completely untouched by the fire. This club moss - which is extremely sensitive to fire - had survived. Club moss is the type of plant that existed before ferns and so is extremely old.

A massive log.

Another log, completely hollow. Smoke was coming out of it. For some reason insects were swarming inside the log.

Many big trees had survived the fire. Their buttresses were blackened but the upper trunks and canopies were mostly untouched.

The base of this tree had burnt out and I could walk right through.

Inside, looking up, was completely hollow and disappeared upwards into darkness.

 

[Currawong]

Two giant tree ferns. The one on the left was about 10 metres tall. Maybe new fronds will sprout from them, or they might be dead. They may be a thousand years old.

I found this giant egg in a nest. My theory is that it belongs to an 'Australian Phoenix' which will rise from the ashes !!

I was getting very thirsty, and could hear running water beneath these ferns.

The water was completely clear, despite the burnt forest and ash around it. I knelt down in the water and stuck my head in the pool and drank a lot !!

Washing the ash off the Firewacker.

Good as new.

There were many patches of rainforest that were untouched by the fire.

This big old rainforest tree, with multiple trunks, was about eight metres wide. It is likely to be thousands of years old. Who knows how many fires it has survived during that time?

I headed back, and soon it was sunset.

It got darker and darker, and eventually I was walking in blackness.

But I made it home !! I pulled out the firewacker mistress and tested it to see if it was still sharp after all the abuse it had been through. It still cut paper !! It produced a nice, clean and straight cut, so it was still very sharp. There was just one point on the blade where it caught a bit, but the roll was too small to see. I'm amazed at the durability of INFI !!!

Thanks for reading.

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Thank you for the great pictorial on the forests.. those trees & the ferns will regrow & many new seeds will germinate from the heat! I’ve seen this in our Redwood Forests.. My heart goes out to all of the wildlife lost and people & property.. Hopefully you’ll have some light steady rains in the near future! Stay safe!

 

[Kleon]

Fantastic outing and post! Glad you came through the fires with your property and person unscathed.

 

[Tim the Wizard]

Haunting and beautiful. Thanks for posting and for minding your lands well.

 

[MattinLA]

Man...Aussies take the best photos...

 

[lmcq784]

Thanks Currawong for the picture essays and updates. It really helps get a sense of what it's like over there right now. I know it's just a small sample, and different places would have experienced different levels of "destruction", but it certainly helps. I've been sitting down with my daughter, reading her your stories and showing her what's happening. Really helps to be able to SEE and tell the narrative, rather than just explaining things to her on a hypothetical or theoretical level.
Again, thanks for all your efforts to keep us updated, and SHOW us what you see!

 

[ScoMa]

Thanks for sharing! Really enjoyed these posts. Felt like I was hiking along side of you.

 

[chuangchee]

Thanks for sharing! Really nice posts. I hope the fire won`t happen again.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Great thread!

 

[cpirtle]

Amazing post and pictures, thank you! I have a lot of customers and friends in Australia and we have been watching the fires progress and praying for the best. It always incredible to see how life manages to persist even in the face of this kind of destruction.

 

[rwdata]

What an amazing story and pictorial. My heart goes out to all that were affected. God bless.

 

[Stump Buster]

So glad you have pictures of the Forest before the fires came through. I’m amazed how different, and still yet how very familiar, the terrain looks here in the Mendocino Nat’l Forest after our fires. You’re going to notice some strange natural recovery cycles. I’m thankful you made it through okay and can now watch the transformation.

Thanks for the tour.

Stay Safe,

Stump