An amazing story of survival during the recent Tasmanian fires, but first the images:
From the ABC’s 7.30 Report, transcript below:
BONNIE WALKER’S DAUGHTER: It came from both directions. It came at us and then from the side.
TIM HOLMES: I ended up having to run down through a wooded area on my own, where there was so much smoke and fire, I didn’t know where I was. So I just kept running.
There was a moment of fear that this could be very, very dangerous. But I managed to run through and get to the water’s edge, which was a kind of a sanctuary.
BONNIE WALKER: A few minutes later, an image arrived which was really – it’s still quite upsetting to see the image, it’s all of my, our, five children underneath the jetty huddled up to neck deep sea water which is cold, we’ve swam the day before and it was cold.
So I knew that that would be a challenge, to keep three non-swimmers above water. And with only my mum and dad and our eldest daughter.
BONNIE WALKER’S DAUGHTER: Even though there was hot ash and everything all over us, it was still cold.
TIM HOLMES: We were relying on the jetty really. And the difficulty was, there was so much smoke and ember and there was only about probably 200mm to 300mm of air above the water. So we were all just heads, water up to our chins just trying to breathe because it was just, the atmosphere was so incredibly toxic.
BONNIE WALKER: That was a very perilous time.
TIM HOLMES: And it raged for three hours. Because there was a lot of sort of – well, it was a wooded point. So everything was on fire and it was just exploding all over the place. Yeah, amazing. Just scorched.
JAMES BENNETT: When the inferno finally subsided Tim Holmes salvaged his dinghy.
BONNIE WALKER: My father rallied against all odds and managed to go up and get a little dinghy off the foreshore. Loaded our children in and my mum and then dragged it into a headwind 200m or 300m around the point into the headwind. And got them to safety so that they weren’t breathing the polluted air.
JAMES BENNETT: After a sleepless night at the Dunalley Hotel, late on Saturday, the family is ferried back to safety by sea rescue volunteers.
BONNIE WALKER: I spent a lot of time with good friends and prayed like I’ve never prayed before and I think those prayers have been answered.
CHARLOTTE (BONNIE WALKER’S DAUGHTER): Mummy!
BONNIE WALKER: Yes Charlotte. Those prayers have been answered.
JAMES BENNETT: They’re right in front of you.
BONNIE WALKER: Right in front of me.
CHARLOTTE You’re back!
BONNIE WALKER: You’re home.
Watching the Deniers 
Thank goodness that it was the ocean and not a backyard dam, so many have perished from seeking refuge in a dam’
something those children will never forget for the rest of their lives, we are failing them .
Just so damn mad over this and the ignorati “it ain’t happening” denial
We live in hope
My thoughts as well… dams have often mislead people. And I agree – our society, if not civilisation, has failed those children.
The climate ( creationists) blogspot today
“What better way to staunch protests at worsening economic and life conditions than to make it feel like an honourable job/duty of the people to save “Gia”. At the same time, they used this “science” as new pagan religion to further push out the Christianity they hate and despise and most of all, fear? Gia worship, the earth “mother”, has been pushed in popular culture oozing out of the West for a better part of the past 1.5 decades. This is a religion replete with an army of priests, called Government Grant Scientists”
anyone still doubt me?.
That was posted at the no carbon tax climate sceptics party ,their president is an active christian fundamentalist.
Pretty much mimics the creationist movement.
Now who wrote that?
http://www.mat-rodina.blogspot.ru/
RE the post about the new record australian temperature
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/national-heat-record-expected-by-bureau-of-meterology/story-fncyva0b-1226549102215
Another trap is seeking refuge in water tanks, the water does not need to boil to kill you it just needs to get slightly above core body temperature of 37DegC for a period
I hope they saved the dog (not being facetious!).
Scary.
Pity Gillard cannot call a snap election and challenge Abbott on climate change.
Yes the dog was saved and now lives on a farm with fifty other dogs and frolics about all day without a care in the world
“watched QI last night about dogs used to blow up tanks”
but what happens to the dog?
he now lives on a farm etc, back is a bit sore but he is fine
Amazing story. I salute the grandparents who got the kids down to relative safety at the jetty,then moved them away from the smoke by pulling a dinghy through the shallows.
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