Many thanks - safely home at around 9.30 p.m. They believe the fire was started by a gas gun in a vineyard (bird scaring device). There is a lot of dry feed about in paddocks, as we had an unseasonally wet November. The forecast is for 31 degrees C today but then cooling off tomorrow. Fire crews will be starting at 7.30 a.m. today and it should all be fine.

I'm always glad when we get the break of the season in autumn, and have safely negotiated another summer. We had a fire on our property in 1999 - were incredibly lucky that the wind changed and took it along the highway - all we lost were boundary fences. Even that was frightening - we were told to evacuate and the kids were little then. You run around in a blind panic, trying to work out what precious items to take with you.

The news from the eastern states just gets worse. It's hard to believe arsonists could be partly responsible for such loss of life and devastation.