[Sca-cooks] OT Fire down below....

[Mark Calderwood]

At 03:47 2/01/02 +0000, you wrote:
>Lainie asked about the Bush fire situation in Australia.
>Giles (Mark Calderwood) is in the fire zone - when I last e'd with him
>(Sunday night) the bush fires were just 10 kilometers away from his home.

Giles is currently ok, if somewhat tense, and watching the situation very
closely. The fire is currently around 3 km from my home- although the term
bush fire does little to convey the impact of 40m flames burning along a
30km front. Dante would be impressed. The bad news SCA-wise is that I'm the
feast steward for Twelfth Night!

>On a related note - the Lochac 12th night event was to be held within the
>area that is currently "Fire zone"

The venue is in the Royal National Park south of Sydney, 85% of which has
been destroyed. So far there is no word on whether the site has survived as
all the roads in that area are closed, but even if it is ok we just
couldn't hold a coronet investiture there. Aside from the aesthetics of
holding an event amidst thousands of hectares of smoking ash, there are
safety concerns. In light of the situation (no feast steward and no site),
the event steward and I have reluctantly had to cancel the event, and hold
a daytime court only event instead to get the P&P crowned. I regret that
circumstances don't allow me to do the feast- but I'd regret it much more
if I were away cooking a feast while my house burned down.

Nor is there any word on the Rowany Festival site for the same reason-
roads are closed. The town of Silverdale has suffered very heavy damage, as
have the neighbouring areas of Wallacia and Warragamba. The site may have
survived, but it may not have.

Giles, reporting from The Inferno