Smoking Saves Lives?
By theprofessionalhobo ~ May 6th, 2009. Filed under: Australia, Victorian bush fires.
Would you believe that smoking saves lives? It does. It really does.
(Never mind that the habit takes a few more than it saves).
The fires on Black Saturday took many people by surprise. As the hottest day on record, many Australians did what you do in such heat: they stayed inside, drew all the curtains, cranked the air conditioning, and went about their day – completely oblivious to the outside world.
And so on this day, that a friend of a friend unwittingly launched a campaign called “Smoking Saves Lives”.
Being a staunch smoker with a wife even more staunchly against having it in the house, our hero stepped out on this hot day for a cigarette. It was then, and only then, that he learned of the unprecedented fire raging towards his home at record speeds.
He had enough time to get inside, get his family, and get out. They lost everything else to the fires.
Had he not stepped outside for a smoke, our hero and his family may not have been so lucky. Thus, he is a new man, with a new mission; one that may go against the grain, but which could just as easily pick up speed in this strange world. He stands tall and proud, saying:
“SMOKING SAVES LIVES”!
Shout it from the tallest trees and the highest mountains, dude. You go.
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May 7th, 2009 at 2:28 am
I’m enthusiastically working on a theory that
“DRINKING COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF BEER SAVES LIVES.”
I’ll get back to you on the results…if I can remember to.
May 9th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
And..paying attention,listening to the announcements, being aware of your surroundings and vulnerability and defensibility and on and on. I have been fighting fires with helicopters for 34 years. This level of devastation, death and heart ache could have been reduced.
Hard lessons were hopefully learned and lives will be saved in the future.
Keith
May 9th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Great response, Keith. It was a very high risk day for fire, and people should have been more alert. Thanks for the reminder. I know that personally, I will never look at a hot dry day in the same way, nor will I view fire the same way either.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
As another firefighter for 34+ years, I would add that people should really pay the most attention to what Keith called “defensibility.”
Being “alert” to announcements or that it is really hot, dry, and windy on a particular day is way too late to do anything but prepare to pack your car and get the hell out.
Want to save your house? Learn about creating adequate defensible space, applying appropriate fire safe home construction techniques, and keeping flammable materials off and away from your home.
Contrary to popular belief, more often than not, it is not luck that determines which homes survives a catastrophic wildland fire.