There’s nothing like a national disaster to make you wish you were closer to home. As I’m sure most of you have heard – parts of Victoria have been devastated by bush fires over the past week and a half. Fortunately, we are safe here in Port Melbourne and are still a couple hours away from any danger. We still have been able to smell the smoke and our sky has been hazy as the smoke is blown down from the hills. At first I had no idea how a fire could get so out of control. They were showing pictures of cars and homes completely destroyed and kept reporting that so many people were being killed. I just kept wondering why these people didn’t evacuate?! When I started reading the articles in the paper, it explained how rapidly the fires would spread and often times, by the time you even saw smoke - it was already too late – the flames would catch up within minutes. Typically the fire will travel on top of trees and will literally suck the oxygen out from below - many people actually die from suffocation. People have described the sound similar to that of a jet engine. Even if you try to escape in your car, sometimes the smoke is too thick to even tell where you are going. Out of this tragedy, it has been really inspiring to see the selflessness of Australian people. Across the country people have donated their time, money, and resources to help the victims. The road to rebuild what these people have lost will be a long one….please keep these families in your prayers!