Still smouldering

8am.
Yesterday I smelt smoke again three times and I can smell it again now and there's two sirens headed up to The Bays right now. It's not old smoke stirred up I've been smelling. There was no wind to stir it up. The fieries have today and tomorrow to hunt down every last spot fire and kill it dead. Pity they can't do the same for arsonists.

I can't see any smoke from here this morning but I'm going down later for another look at the damage. Last night I could see lights on in at least ten houses on Horsfield Road so I suppose some residents were cleared to go home. The sky is clear today and the damage will be more evident. I won't be going into the burnt areas. They're still restricted to residents only I imagine and apart from that, a non-journalist going in to photograph the burnt-out homes would just be tacky (in poor taste).

Last night the telly said we're in for another scorcher this weekend. They interviewed some fire chiefs and they said they've got to get the current fires well and truly out before the weekend or it'll be the same thing all over again. There's also been a total fire ban slapped onto more areas of the state.

Peter down in Sydney has a spectacular night photo from tttalis on his blog and a couple of equally spectacular night photos of his own of the fires from Palm Beach. Thomas (tttalis) also has a good blog post about the fires as seen from his veranda on the bay.

Fire articles from The Australian:
Hot wind keeping fire crews on alert
Heart victim praised for charity work - the guy who died at Woy Woy
Senator takes stock on charred farm
And the Sydney Morning Herald:
Cool change keeps fires from burning
Fire victims count the cost WARNING: photo of burnt sheep
Family sees home ablaze on TV in Wattle Crescent, a street I walked just before Christmas
It's like a sauna for fauna - the shape of things to come
Up, up and away - temperature graph for Sydney on New Year's Day