All Alone - 28. Alo Chapter 28

There is a proper gravel road that leads 4.5 kms south of here, that goes to the backpackers hostel, and the Southern End Caretakers, that is the boundary that I am setting for you both, there are sandy beaches and sand dunes there, so you can go there if you want to swim, but stay close to shore, and never go out near the reef, as there are sharks in this area” I said, as both of them swallowed hard.

“I think we will come with you on this trip please uncle” Alistair said and I saw Davis nod his head in agreement.

”Ok, looks like we will be taking two vehicle then, say nothing to any other station staff, they will be notified that we will be away, the day before we leave, and Matt who you have already met, will be in charge.

He may look young, but he has worked on this station for nearly three years, so he knows everything to do with the station, and we don’t have any stock now, so they will be fine” I commented. After dinner, I had a shower and went to bed early, as it had been a tiring day.

I woke sometime in the night, when I heard an enormous boom of thunder and crack of lightning, which sounded very close, quickly looking at my clock, it was just after 3am, as I quickly dressed as quietly as possible, but I soon discovered, that was a wasted effort, as Davis and Alistair were in the lounge room, looking very worried.

“Boss, are you there, over?” came a voice over the radio, and I walked over to where the radio is situated.

“Receiving you Matt, over” I replied, “I smell smoke, but with it being so dark, I can’t see any fire at the moment, over” Matt said, “Oh blast, here we go again”, I commented out loud.

“Attention all station staff, we have a report of smoke on the station, I repeat, there is the smell of smoke on the station, please investigate and report back, over” I said into the radio mic. Chris, Troy and Dave all responded to my call, and Matt came back to say that Greg was already on his way to the airfield tank, to top up the fire unit water tank, which I was pleased to hear, and Dave said that Sue was on her way over to man the office.

“Stay here, you are safe from any fires, as the ground is too bare, for a fire to get close to the homestead compound, and please mind Angus” I said to Davis and his son, as I dashed out the door, and jumped into my car, and raced to the visitor centre. By the time that I arrived, Dave was already there with his vehicle attached to the smaller fire unit, and we were about to walk inside, when we heard Greg on the radio.

“Greg to base, over” he said as I reached the radio mic in my car.

“Go ahead Greg” I replied, “Boss we have a fire on the station, approximate north east of the homestead airfield, and it looks to be heading west, over” Greg reported.

“Ok, any idea how far north, over?” I asked, “I would say about two kms roughly, hard to tell with it being so dark, over” Greg replied.

“Received Greg, stay where you are, we will meet you there, over” I said, and I waited a few moments before holding down the mic key again, “Lloyd to Chris, over” I called, and I had an immediate reply.

“Receiving you, boss, what is the plan of attack, over” Chris replied.

“I need you to come down the Coral Coast North Road, and get a more accurate location of the fire, if Greg is right, and it is heading west, we should be in for an easy night, as the fire is heading straight for already bunt land, over” I said

“Roger that boss, I am on my way, over and out” Chris said.

“Right lets’ take just your vehicle, as mine isn’t suited for station country, and we can go and meet up with your brother” I said to Matt, and a few minutes later we found Greg waiting on the main driveway, near the junction to the airfield.

“Tony to Lloyd, over” we heard over the radio, “Go ahead Tony, over” I responded.

“I am nearly at the visitor centre, and I would like to assist in any way possible, we have a 700-litre tank and pump on the back of Scott’s unit, over” Tony replied.

“Very well, do you know where the homestead airfield is, about 700 metres out from the homestead, on the left, on the main driveway, over” I said.

“Yes, we will be there in less than 5 minutes, over and out” Tony replied.

“Chris to Boss, over” we heard Chris say soon after putting the mic back in its slot, and I retrieved it again, “Receiving you Chris, what do you see, over” I said.

“Mixed news, the fire is indeed heading north west, and it is west of the Coral Coast North road, but it is north of the cattle grid, at the Pelican Point Fence line, over” Chris replied.

“Hell, Chris turn around and evacuate all the campers at Sandy Point, and as far north as 14-mile, and be prepared to evacuate everyone, including your own camp. Anne, Anne, are you listening in, over” I said after hearing that.

“Yes, receiving you boss, I am on my way south already, to do just that, when Chris left, I began to pack up our camp, so it won’t take much to get our camp moved”, Anne replied.

“Good, have everyone who is being evacuated, come down to the homestead compound, along the main station road, not the track, where they can stay for the remainder of the night, and we will sort things out at day break.

Tell them that it is a fire emergency, and that everyone must evacuate, no arguments” I said to Anne, “roger boss, over and out” Anne said, as I saw the P&W ranger ute arrive, and both men jumped out as soon as the vehicle had stopped.

“Just to let you know, that the ranger based at Coral Bay, is on his way down, he will be at the north station turn off in 15 minutes, he too has a tank and pump on the back of his ute” Tony informed me.

“When he gets to the turnoff, getting him to go to the junction of the 14-mile north track, which is almost 3 kms from the main road junction, that one is a lot wider and better condition that the south track, when he get to the caretaker’s camp, head south on the track to Sandy Point, to enforce the evacuation.

Some idiots may think they are safer on the beach, which they are not.

Once he arrives, Chris and Anne – our north end caretaker’s, will pack up their camp and lead the evacuees to the main station road, and down to the homestead” I said to Tony, “Right, it will be done, what about us?” Tony responded.

“We are going to get as close and safe enough to the fire, to see if we can control it” I announced, as we climbed into the vehicles, “Matt, is it possible to use that track from here that cuts across north of the main airfield, back onto the station road” I asked.

“Yes, good idea boss, that should take off about 3 kilometres and ten minutes off the journey” Matt replied, and we were soon on our way at higher speed than usual on the station tracks, making us bounce all around the cab, and by the time we arrived on the main gravel station road, I felt like a milkshake, all stirred up inside.

“Remind me to tell you to ignore any shortcuts in future” I commented, glad that we were now on a smoother road, speeding north towards the cattle grid, as Matt chuckled at my comment, and we arrived there fifteen minutes later in record time, Stopping on the other side of the cattle grid, about a kilometre north, just where the road begins to bend away from the fence line.

I retrieved the binoculars from the glove box of the ute and searched to the north west of our current location, where I could clearly see the fire, which was heading North West and at a rapid rate. What annoyed me was that I could see lights, near the beach, that were in direct threat of the fire.

“Lloyd to Chris, what the hell is going on down there, I can still see lights near the beach at Sandy Point, over” I said into the radio, “Hello boss, yes they are being stubborn idiots, they think they are safer being closer to the water, and two vehicles with camper trailers are bogged in the sand… ah, here comes the rangers at last” Chris responded.

“Good, let the ranger deal with those idiots, I want you and Anne in a safe area, so go and pack up your camp, and head down to the homestead, Greg, Matt and the senior Ranger and I are monitoring the fire, from the fence line beside the station road, over” I said.

“Roger that boss, over and out” Chris replied, and I saw Tony was talking on his VHF radio, presumably to his ranger down at Sandy Point.

“Bloody idiots, they just won’t listen, they are even ignoring my ranger down there, and still trying to get their vehicles unstuck, and I will not have my staff endangered by those idiots, so I have instructed him to inform the idiots to abandon the vehicle when the fire approaches, and get into the water, till the fire has passed or is out” Tony said to me.

“Just as well it is in Marine Park jurisdiction, and I don’t have to worry about it” I commented, and Tony gave a short laugh, “Yeah, lucky you” he replied, with a slight grin, as we saw a set of lights turning north and heading for 14-mile, which we presumed is the ranger.

The wind slowed right down, as did the fire, and we cautiously drove on the north side of the fence line, till we reached the station track gate that was still locked, which I was pleased to see. We stopped here and looked at the fire, which was now just over a kilometre due north of us, still heading in a north west direction. “Sue to Lloyd over” a call came over the radio, “Receiving you base, what’s the problem, over” I replied.

“Firstly, I have Minilya Roadhouse on the phone asking if we need any assistance with the fire, over” Sue said, “Tell them that we appreciate their offer, but everything is under control, and we have 3 Parks and Wildlife rangers on site assisting us, what was the other thing, over” I replied.

“Ok, thank you again, bye for now… sorry boss, just ending that phone call, before telling you the second thing. We have a traffic jam here, so I am wondering what we do with all of these vehicles that have just turned up, over” Sue said.

“Oh shit, I hadn’t thought about that”, I said out loud to those around me, and we all chuckled. “What about using the homestead airfield, they can angle park, which will give them plenty of space between vehicles” Greg suggested, “Not just a pretty face, my bro, eh” Matt commented, and Greg blushed while we all laughed.

“Lloyd to Troy, do you copy over” I said into the radio mic, “Receiving boss, I’m just scratching my head to try and resolve this traffic jam, over” came a reply, which made us all laugh again. “Greg has suggested getting them to park on an angle on the homestead airfield, do you think you and Rebecca can handle that, over” I said.

“Brilliant, well done Greg, we will get right onto it, over and out” Troy said, and I was pleased that that issue was being sorted. Knowing that the airfield is 1200 metres long, I knew that it would fit all the camper trailers and caravans easily, depending on the spacing between each vehicle, when they park.

For the next two hours we watched as the fire continued its path towards Sandy point, and eventually it ran out of fuel to burn and went out on its own, we had slowly crept north, and put out any logs that were burning, not that there were very many of them, and as the sun was rising on our backs to the East, we could now see how much land had been burnt in this recent fire.

Matt and Greg, in the station ute, back tracked a few kilometres, and followed another track north, and they reported in that they had found the starting point of the fire, which looked like lightning strike, and they were wetting down the eastern side of the fire, to prevent any flareups, for when the sea breeze come in later this afternoon.

As Tony and I reached Sandy point, we found two burnt out vehicles,with a camper trailer attached to one, and a group of campers huddled together on the beach. It was clear that they had driven their vehicle onto the beach to try and keep away from the fire, but their vehicles had become bogged.

“My name is Mr Templeton, I am the owner of this station, and it was me that gave the order to evacuate the area, which you should have obeyed. Now you have no vehicles, or camping gear, and you are cold and wet, all because you were stupid enough to think that you were better than me in deciding what is best in a fire emergency on this station” I said in a loud and annoyed manner, as Tony cleared his throat.

For ignoring my order to evacuate, and causing your vehicles to get bogged, and eventually burnt out, you will be facing a $1000 fine, plus you will be banned from entering the station ever again. This is a Superintendent with Parks and Wildlife, he has some more good news for you” I said, making the introduction.

Tony smiled at my last comment, “Do you have any Photo ID with you?” Tony demanded, and only two men produced their Drivers Licences, which Tony recorded in his note book. “Are you two gentlemen the owners of these two vehicles?” Tony asked, “Yes, I own what was a blue Mazda BT50 Ute” one man said, “mine was the white Ford Ranger, with the camper trailer attached” the other man said.

“You are receiving today, two on the spot fines each, the first is for not obeying a directive by a public officer, at a time of an emergency, which is a $600 fine, and the second is for driving on the beach, on the Ningaloo Maine Park, which is off limits to all vehicles, and this is a $800 fine.

“You will also be charged $500 each for the removal of your vehicles off the beach, and they will be placed on the station rubbish heap. If the fines and costs are not paid within 28 days, you will receive a summons to attend court” Tony informed the two men.

“That is $2900 each, how are we supposed to cough up that kind of money” one of the women complained, “That is not my problem, Ma’am, if you had not disobeyed the directive, you wouldn’t be in this mess, would you…” Tony said, and he walked away from the group and took some photos of both vehicles and the camper trailer, before returning.

“Do we have any backpacker’s rooms still free?” Tony whispered to me. “Yes, if you and Scott move to the staff cottage for the remainder of the weekend, then we have four twin rooms available” I answered.