Friday 28 August 2009

woman with dog refuses to be airlifted from the bushfire

There's an article today in TheAge newspaper that has me wondering what I would have done if an inferno of flames was approaching my property, I was being airlifted out with my dog in my arms, and the dog jumped back down to the ground.

In Kinglake West, during the tragic February bushfires, Juliet Moore was attached to a police helicopter's winch, when her dog, Poncho, jumped out of her arms. Ms Moore asked to be released from the winch.

Eventually the police helicopter had to leave when it became unstable because of low oxygen levels in the air, and the police officer who was on the ground took a convoy of cars to try to reach safety. Ms Moore had a passenger in her car, and the passenger leaned out the window and led a horse by the halter.

The next car towed a horse float with two horses.

And the convoy was joined for part of the way by deer, koalas, kangaroos and lizards, all running alongside the cars.

When I read this story, I hoped and prayed I'll never be in this terrifying situation. It made me think about the fact that we are just one species of the many that share this one planet, but we are in a better position to influence what happens to our climate and our environment.

It's a big responsibility.

5 comments:

i said...

Well said. We are not the only species living on this planet. But because of human selfishness, many other species had lost their homes or killed.

parlance said...

Yes, Happy, we have a great deal to answer for.

Unknown said...

Oh how awful...I always wondered the same thing...although I have to say, I somehow can't get an image of me being air-lifted with Honey in my arms - ha! ha! Not unless they brought a crane!!

Hey - I also meant to say, I'm glad you found our dancing choreography post useful! I wasn't sure how many people would be interested but I know a lot of people have said to me that they always get stuck at the point of actually putting together a routine so I thought it might be worth doing the post...you might find the video helpful too as I actually go through a piece of music and demonstrate how I would "map" it out and where I would put what kind of moves, based on the music...

Hsin-Yi

parlance said...

Hsin-Yi, I'm looking forward to watching the video carefully. What you have put together is extremely useful. Thanks for your trouble.

curator said...

What a sad story...but I couldn't leave my furry family members to the flames, either.