My parents live in Kambah, which was the third worst affected suburb in Canberra. I drove to their house on Saturday afternoon to assist with the preservation of their home.
The fire reached to within about 200 metres of their house, but thankfully they live on the edge of a golf course, and the fire progress was halted by the green areas of the golf course. Had the golf course not been there, as it wasn't when my parents first moved to the area around 12 years ago, their house would surely have been destroyed. Houses on the side of the golf course where the firefront hit first were destroyed or seriously damaged.
Anyway the good news was that I left the Cooper S at home in the basement garage, and took my wifes Subaru Outback to my parents house
Things are still pretty hairy around here. My house is in central Canberra, in the suburb of Garran, which is in the middle of one of the only grassland areas not affected by the weekend fires. For this reason people living on the fringes of my suburb which backs onto grassland/forest are understandably nervous.
Sammy