Australia is facing the lethal return of wildfires, as the country wrestles with record temperatures of 113 degrees Fahrenheit and more than 140 fires across the country, starting in the island state of Tasmania and spreading rapidly across the states of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.
Tasmania, known for its milder climate, was the first victim this year, when temperatures set a record high. The fire left dozens missing and thousands dislocated as refugees. A flotilla of boats was recruited to bring supplies to survivors located in areas accessible only by the sea. Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard quickly visited Tasmania to offer the resources of the federal government, as messages of support arrived from Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.
Comparisons are already being made to the Black Saturday bushfires that swept across Victoria in 2009, destroying entire towns and leading to more than 173 deaths.
The wider threat of wildfires is now confronting many areas of mainland Australia. Interestingly, recent rains have increased fire risk by leading to excessive growth of vegetation. Hundreds of fire crews and rescue services across Australia, well-trained in the strategies and tactics needed to combat these blazes, are being deployed in order to be at maximum effectiveness as the fire threat grows. A lethal combination of persistent high temperatures and 50-mph-plus winds have meant that fires are now able to expand and spread with even more speed.
At its worst, the heat from these fires can be so intense that people are killed even before flames reach them. These fires let loose embers that can travel up to 15 miles, starting new fires in areas previously thought by authorities and local residents to be safe. Even lightning storms can be created as a result of these fires, creating the chance for further fires from lightning strikes.
According to Prime Minister Gillard, "The word catastrophic is being used for good reason."
The lack of cloud cover, and resulting moisture, over central Australia has helped push temperatures to record levels. One telling development at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology provides insight into these unprecedented heat levels. The weather agency has now been forced to add new colors to its charts to reflect temperatures in the range of 50 Celsius (112 degrees F) to 54 C (129 degrees F).
Unfortunately, as the rest of their country is beginning to confront the towering flames, many Tasmanians are now starting to come to terms with the reality that they will have lost absolutely everything. This fear now fills the hearts of millions of other Australians waiting to see if these terrifying walls of fire near them will eventually reach their homes.
Even if, with thorough planning, good judgment, effective deployment of rescue services and a healthy dose of good luck, you and your family manage survive a catastrophe like a brushfire, the possibility of losing everything is both tragic and emotionally numbing. Every photograph. Every old letter or certificate. Every piece of enthusiastic arts and crafts that your son or daughter brought home from school. To lose that evidence of your own life, and the lives of those who have come before, is devastating.
When we look at our lives, their meaning and ultimate justification comes from the connections we have made to others, and the memories we have created in the lives of others. To have those disappear forever because of an unexpected act of nature is a terrifying possibility for those unlucky Australian currently facing down these bushfires.
As we continue to wrestle with manmade problems, such as gun violence and our challenged economy, it is useful to be reminded that, above and beyond those aspects of our lives that we can effect, either to exacerbate or limit danger, there will always remain those catastrophes to which we can only react.
As the gruesome deaths of children and teachers in Newtown, Conn., recede gradually into the American memory, in order to make room on the cable news channels and talk radio for the Punch-and-Judy-style debates over gun control and the Second Amendment, it is important to reflect on catastrophes that are manmade and those that are not.
Port Arthur, Tasmania, the scene in 1996 of the worst mass shooting in Australian history, again is in the news as wildfire survivors took refuge there until they could be transported to the capital Hobart. Interestingly, since the adoption of comprehensive gun control laws in Australia, there have been no further mass shootings there.
In the absence of manmade catastrophes, Australia still must prepare for and battle the natural brushfires to the best of their ability. Americans, however, no matter how distant they are from the risk of wildfire, know that, someday, there will be another mass shooting. They happen with painful regularity, and Americans will respond to the best of their ability.
The only difference is that gun violence is an entirely manmade problem.
Attorney and writer Timothy Spangler divides his time between Orange County and the United Kingdom.