Tomorrow [Sat] is forecast for 42 (107.5 F), Sunday (yes, we're a day out compared to the USA - get used to it), is a mere 38 (100.5) F.

Sometime in that we get the ferocious winds (up to 150 mph) that fan the flames and we still have a lunatic fringe that get their kicks from lighting fires!

It's still better than 1983 [2,500 homes and 79 ives] but it's not good.

For US consumers who look at Death Valley and say "why are they complaining, we get 120F on our bad days!", I should explain. We get winter rain, and sping, autumn, and a bit in the summer too, so things grow. When it gets hot and dry, they dry out.

Have you ever sat on a funeral pyre and hoped that none of your peurile teenage friends smoked?

... ... ...

In astronomical terms, although Mt. Stromlo Observatory has lost all its labs, domes, scopes, and workshops, we've saved the computers, so all the records are OK. And all the people are still here, so we can start again, quickly.

(Imagine Pearl Harbour, but with Telescopes). We have lost a lot of current stuff, but haven't lost the capability to be back in the future.

As Arnold S. said "we'll be back"!