Adelaide, where I live, has just rewritten the record for a heat wave experienced by an Australian capital city.
We sweltered through 15 days with the temperature above 35 degrees Celsius. That’s 95 degrees for our US friends. The last 13 days were all over 38 (100). And, 3 days were over 40 (105). Hot, damn hot.
As a volunteer firefighter it was enough to cause some anxiety. Okay, a lot of anxiety. Fortunately there were only 3 fires of note, all far enough from home that we weren’t threatened. I went to one of them, Williamstown, in a command car. We spent the night shift, blacking out and making sure the fire didn’t jump containment lines. It was a quiet night, but a couple of hours before sunrise the wind sprang up and it was enough to get our pulses racing.
It’s funny. Until I joined the CFS I never stayed up all night. Not even new years eve. But the last few years I’ve gone to work, attended a fire over night, and gone back to work next day on more occasions than I care to remember. When the community thanks volunteers for their efforts at a large fire they should also thank the understanding employers who support us.
They say the heat wave is a one in 3000 year event. So, if it happens next year does that mean this one is for the past 3000 years and the next one is for the next 3000 years?