Bushwalkers at Litchfield National Park had a nasty surprise
For grey nomads or anybody else taking a bushwalk in remote country, fire is without doubt one of the biggest fears.
Imagine the horror then of hikers Susan Burns and Russell Smith when they turned a corner in the NT’s Litchfield National Park and ran into a wall of flames.
“We could see the smoke but we figured if there was a big fire the rangers would have closed the path,” Ms Burns told the NT News. “Then we came around the bend and we saw this wall of flames, about 100 metres from us.”
The group was about two kilometres from Walker Creek when they reached the fire and, as they were surrounded by grass, wasted no time in turning around and getting out of the area quickly.
They say that, on their return trip, they ran into other bushwalkers who had faced similar problems.
“We met some other hikers who told us they’d walked into a fire area, turned to go back and realised the fire was there too,” Mr Smith said. “They had to sit in a burnt patch for two hours while they waited for the fire to go around them.”
The fire was managed by Parks and Wildlife. It is not clear whether it was part of a planned burn, or if it was unexpected.
Despite the lack of signage and warnings about the fires, Mr Smith told the NT News that he didn’t blame the rangers.
“Hikers do have some responsibility to be aware of the dangers,” he said. “The rangers could have closed the track off, but hikers need to decide what risks they’re going to take themselves.”
• What is your biggest fear when out bushwalking? Have you ever had a bushfire fright? Comment below.
Some years ago rangers went to burn off near the Marine Inst at Townsville. They put a chain across a track that people use to go fishing. I was at the creek fishing when I smelt smoke, moved out into the creek and could see the fire moveing toward my car. Quick packup and dash back to the car. Drove out to road only to find that a chain was across the track. Had to drive through the fence to get out. Spoke HARSHLY to rangers about being blocked off. Bloody fools could of killed people because they did not check/expect people to be there.