It goes without saying that one of the great hazards of the Australian bush is fire. The result of a big burn can be totally devastating , and that is even without the loss of life that can occur .

As a country born person I have had some experience of bushfires , and indeed as I write this there are some very destructive fires raging around my old home town . I remember , too , a bus trip up a back road from the lakes below Newcastle during a hot summer season , when the bus had to run the gauntlet of fires along the hills . I was about ten years old , and I have an extremely vivid memory of seeing a middle aged woman , patches of her dress burnt , reeling exhausted from firefighting out of a side road towards the road we were on.

My childhood was spent across the road from a very large expanse of scrub , fortunately not covered with large trees , but still capable of burning intensely during the hot summer days .

So , since not much more than a twentieth of our block of ten hectares ( or twenty-five acres ) was cleared , I automatically took the hazard of fire into account . The house was to be set in the cleared area , so we did not have to fell any of our big gums . The house itself was metal frame on a concrete slab , and the cladding was of a compressed material that was reasonably fireproof. I am sure that if any fire got too close to it , it would have suffered charring damage , but it could easily withstand , for instance , the storm of hot embers that precede a main fire front , starting spot fires.

Anyway , to make assurance doubly sure , I had the town fire brigade leader make an assessment and he passed the house and its situation as being safe . He pointed out one or two possible problems , but they were easily dealt with . My major concern had been that with a strong westerly , a fire could crown in the trees and race up the gullies , but in the end , it was no hazard.

With that done , I also consulted with my neighbour Bob . He was a member of the Bush Fire Brigade , as distinct from the town brigade , though the two work hand in hand . I was very happy to pay what was a relatively small subscription to the Bush Fire Brigade , not just for the selfish reason of being on their list for immediate response in emergencies , but because they are a magnificent bunch of volunteers, all over the state , and I still support them via the State Emergency Services.

Thus I was happy that , while I was away , the place would be under the protection of some fine folk.

I was able to watch the work of the volunteers from year to year as they improved their facilities in a cleared area about two kilometers up the road from me . They built their own big fire shed , maintained their tanker , were always on call when needed . They even built a playground for kids and a barbecue area where they were able to hold fund raising activities. Those activities were pleasant fun days , with people from all around coming in to join in the fun . I even won myself some red cedar seedlings in a raffle -- and it's a big deal for me to win anything !

However, the great thing that I remember from my early times at Dondingalong was when I went to the brigade's Annual General Meeting . Without , I hope , sounding supercilious , I found it hilarious. I had , after all, suffered years of staff meetings in colleges , which were run with a savage efficiency . Not so in the main hall of the Anglican Sister's Convent !

Wonderful as their fire fighting skills were , their expertise in running meetings was nil . After bumbling through the agenda in a most haphazard way , there came the climax , when Any Other Business was called. At this point a young man , in bib and braces overalls , boots and a hat , but wearing little else , stood up , to a universal groan from the meeting . Apparently he always had the same series of points to make , year after year .

He was an ardent greenie and decidedly opposed to the process of controlled burning to get rid of undergrowth . I think his main objection was that it removed the habitat for many small creatures . He had a sheaf of papers about a foot thick through and embarked on the process of reading each and every pamphlet contained therein .

For the very first time , the president asserted his authority . Although it was done politely the young man ( a recent migrant from England) was given five minutes to make his case . After stumbling through just one of his pamphlets , very badly read , he was brought to a halt , a vote taken , and he was silenced .

I did feel for him , but it was , as I said , a fitting end to probably the funniest meeting I have ever attended.

I did have the chance to go to another one later in my term at Dondingalong , but decided against it , salving my conscience with a solid monetary donation to the cause of bush fire prevention in the district . The strain of repressing laughter would have been too much for me.