January 26. Yesterday I awoke to the city blanketed in smoke. Not the familiar eucalypt sting of open forest, but the ashy smell of ferns and moss. The Otways fire had broken containment. Fire season runs from November to March, more or less, though it’s getting longer each year now. 20 days ago, when the last heat wave barrelled through, catastrophic fires flared across the state, five of which – including the… Read More