Article When Samantha Kneeshaw realised there was nothing more she could do to save her house from the raging New Year’s Eve bushfire at Conjola, on the NSW south coast, she made her way to her backyard pool and strapped on scuba diving gear.
For 10 minutes the marine biologist oceanographer sat as still as she could, submerged in the shallow end of the water without goggles or a mask to see, and controlled her breathing as burnt leaves and ash fell around her.
“I couldn’t actually see it at that stage,’’ Ms Kneeshaw told The Australian. “The house was obscured by black smoke. All I could see was flames above the house and I reckon they must have been the trees on the other side of the (Princes) highway. I just thought that was the house going.’’
Fire damage at Samantha Kneeshaw’s. Picture: Supplied Fire damage at Samantha Kneeshaw’s. Picture: Supplied The 45-year-old was in despair at the thought of losing her home after trying so hard to save it.
READ MORE:Smoke continues to choke Melbourne|Fire recovery funds to hit budget surplus|Bushfires a way out for RBA?|Catastrophic damage to farmland|Threat to tap water from ash pollution And she was deeply concerned about the wildlife, without realising people at Conjola Park were also in danger.
Her teenage daughters, Darcy and Manny, husband David and beloved dogs were out of harm’s way in the nearby towns of Ulladulla and Milton and she had enough oxygen in her diving tank to last one hour underwater.
“There were a couple of explosions — they were two trucks on my neighbours’ property — I had to keep under because of all the embers and there was just stuff everywhere,” Ms Kneeshaw said.
Nearly every plant on the four-hectare property was burnt or lost their leaves from the heat and seven of the family’s eight chickens and a rooster were killed.
But as the smoke began to clear Ms Kneeshaw saw her house miraculously still standing, saved by her firefighting efforts, a firefighting pump and a homemade roof sprinkler system.
The only damage was two cracked windows and melted bathroom vents.
Ms Kneeshaw may be the only Australian to have used her scuba-diving gear and pool to survive the bushfires but she stressed it was part of her fire plan and she was well-prepared.
Her husband had gone to work before 8am on the day the fire hit, not knowing what was coming, while Manny had been dropped into town to stay with a friend and Darcy was volunteering.
A phone call from neighbour Bruce Shea at 10.30am alerted her to the need to get ready for the approaching fire.
Ms Kneeshaw started spraying around the house and wetting the decks while, across the highway, 30m-tall eucalypts were in flames.
“At that stage I just went angry. I was furious at the government,” she said.
“We’ve been watching this place get dryer, tree ferns that have been there for years have died. We knew this was going to happen. I was just livid they haven’t done anything about climate change.”
Usually there is a lead time, unfortunately these fires were unprecedented. Some watch and act warnings turned into to late to leave within 20 minutes.
Additionally, Australian rural towns aren't exactly like the rest of the world. My mum has one dirt access road surrounded by trees. If a fire starts on that road she is stuck. 5 minutes from a start of a fire and no alert to too late to leave. Many of these stories have come from similar circumstances. Sometimes there is no choice. If there is a warning, you should go immediatly without delay. We should however understand sometimes it was not a choice to stay.
The main town with over 10,000 people. 2 roads in and out. Surrounded by forest and national parks. These fires, this hot and this fast left many people with the possibility of being stranded. Watching and monitoring closely even if no fires in your area were changing within the matter of 30 minutes to it's too late.
We also got switched to NBN. Great but now no one had internet, home phones and mobiles weren't working. People had no access to information and were literally left in the dark.
os400 on January 16th, 2020 at 00:43 UTC »
Do you have at least 10,000L of water on hand and a diesel or petrol fire pump with appropriate hoses, branches etc, and know how to use them?
If not, get out early.
MOIST_PEOPLE on January 16th, 2020 at 01:23 UTC »
Article When Samantha Kneeshaw realised there was nothing more she could do to save her house from the raging New Year’s Eve bushfire at Conjola, on the NSW south coast, she made her way to her backyard pool and strapped on scuba diving gear.
For 10 minutes the marine biologist oceanographer sat as still as she could, submerged in the shallow end of the water without goggles or a mask to see, and controlled her breathing as burnt leaves and ash fell around her.
“I couldn’t actually see it at that stage,’’ Ms Kneeshaw told The Australian. “The house was obscured by black smoke. All I could see was flames above the house and I reckon they must have been the trees on the other side of the (Princes) highway. I just thought that was the house going.’’
Fire damage at Samantha Kneeshaw’s. Picture: Supplied Fire damage at Samantha Kneeshaw’s. Picture: Supplied The 45-year-old was in despair at the thought of losing her home after trying so hard to save it.
READ MORE:Smoke continues to choke Melbourne|Fire recovery funds to hit budget surplus|Bushfires a way out for RBA?|Catastrophic damage to farmland|Threat to tap water from ash pollution And she was deeply concerned about the wildlife, without realising people at Conjola Park were also in danger.
Her teenage daughters, Darcy and Manny, husband David and beloved dogs were out of harm’s way in the nearby towns of Ulladulla and Milton and she had enough oxygen in her diving tank to last one hour underwater.
“There were a couple of explosions — they were two trucks on my neighbours’ property — I had to keep under because of all the embers and there was just stuff everywhere,” Ms Kneeshaw said.
Nearly every plant on the four-hectare property was burnt or lost their leaves from the heat and seven of the family’s eight chickens and a rooster were killed.
But as the smoke began to clear Ms Kneeshaw saw her house miraculously still standing, saved by her firefighting efforts, a firefighting pump and a homemade roof sprinkler system.
The only damage was two cracked windows and melted bathroom vents.
Ms Kneeshaw may be the only Australian to have used her scuba-diving gear and pool to survive the bushfires but she stressed it was part of her fire plan and she was well-prepared.
Her husband had gone to work before 8am on the day the fire hit, not knowing what was coming, while Manny had been dropped into town to stay with a friend and Darcy was volunteering.
A phone call from neighbour Bruce Shea at 10.30am alerted her to the need to get ready for the approaching fire.
Ms Kneeshaw started spraying around the house and wetting the decks while, across the highway, 30m-tall eucalypts were in flames.
“At that stage I just went angry. I was furious at the government,” she said.
“We’ve been watching this place get dryer, tree ferns that have been there for years have died. We knew this was going to happen. I was just livid they haven’t done anything about climate change.”
bluecheesywheel on January 16th, 2020 at 01:23 UTC »
Copy to main thread from reply chain:
Usually there is a lead time, unfortunately these fires were unprecedented. Some watch and act warnings turned into to late to leave within 20 minutes.
Additionally, Australian rural towns aren't exactly like the rest of the world. My mum has one dirt access road surrounded by trees. If a fire starts on that road she is stuck. 5 minutes from a start of a fire and no alert to too late to leave. Many of these stories have come from similar circumstances. Sometimes there is no choice. If there is a warning, you should go immediatly without delay. We should however understand sometimes it was not a choice to stay.
The main town with over 10,000 people. 2 roads in and out. Surrounded by forest and national parks. These fires, this hot and this fast left many people with the possibility of being stranded. Watching and monitoring closely even if no fires in your area were changing within the matter of 30 minutes to it's too late.
We also got switched to NBN. Great but now no one had internet, home phones and mobiles weren't working. People had no access to information and were literally left in the dark.