The Fire Next Time

Our thoughts have been with all our compatriots in Oz, in the last couple of weeks. Lives lost: more than 100. Bush fires are nothing new. But these are the worst in 25 years. Some set deliberately. Most Australian bush fire fighters are volunteers. Thank god for stories like the one below, just to keep us sane. "Mirboo North volunteer CFA firefighter David Tree gives water to a distressed koala in burnt-out country in Mirboo North, Gippsland, in Victoria's east. David had been out fighting fires and whilst in the fire truck saw this koala on the side of the road. He stopped the truck and got out thinking the koala would run off. David approached the koala and it started pawing at his leg. David then got a bottle of water out of the truck, and started feeding the koala the water. Each time he stopped feeding the koala it pawed at David’s hand. Other crew then got the camera out of the truck and took this picture just after the koala had put its paw in David’s hand. David was interviewed on a radio station this morning, and was bought to tears describing what happened between him and the koala." He had noticed the koala moving gingerly on scorched paws as his fire patrol passed. Clearly in pain, the animal stopped when it saw Tree. "It was amazing, he turned around, sat on his bum and sort of looked at me with (a look) like, put me out of my misery," Tree told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I yelled out for a bottle of water. I unscrewed the bottle, tipped it up on his lips and he just took it naturally. "He kept reaching for the bottle, almost like a baby." (The Associated Press story HERE.)