Bushfire! (2 page)

Terri and Robert were busy with worries of their own. Even though the fire was still some distance away, if it got out of control it could threaten the zoo. They had spent the morning going over the zoo's fire prevention procedures with Rosie's mum, Katie, who was one of the animal keepers. They had walked around the entire zoo looking over each enclosure.

Katie was reading through their evacuation plan one more time.

Robert turned to his mum. “What if the fire does come closer? What will we do?”

Terri smiled at her son. “Good question. Have you noticed all the big water tanks we have around the zoo?”

Robert nodded. “They're for our sprinkler system.”

“That's right. We also have fire hydrants we could use to help fight the fire.”

Robert thought about this. “But what about the buildings? Could they burn down?”

“The buildings are all made from nonflammable materials, which means they don't catch fire easily.”

Katie ticked off a few items from her list. “Don't forget we have the water trucks. And the zoo is also surrounded by firebreaks.”

Terri nodded, satisfied. “It looks like we've done all we can. Of course, we can move the smaller animals if we have enough warning.”

They wandered back through the wallaby enclosure. Several rock wallabies were grazing lazily in the sun. They looked very content in their grassy home.

Suddenly Robert stopped walking. Something was troubling him. “But fires move really fast sometimes, don't they? What if we don't have much time?”

Terri shrugged. She looked meaningfully at Katie.

“It would be a very difficult decision. We'd have to weigh up the risk of evacuating versus staying.”

Robert looked alarmed.

Terri tried to reassure her son. “If we did decide to stay, we'd make sure the animals had as much protection as possible.”

Robert nodded soberly. “I hope we don't have to do that.”

Terri and Katie shared a glance. They hoped so too. The fate of the zoo depended on it.

Richard had his hands full. More and more animals were being brought over to the emergency tent for treatment. It was devastating to see so many innocent native creatures injured and in pain from burns and smoke inhalation.

Richard checked up on Bindi and the koala she was nursing.

“I'm trying to think of a name for him. Any ideas?” Bindi asked him.

“How about Carol?” Richard suggested. “She has a little joey in her pouch.”

Bindi's eyes widened. “That's why he's, I mean, she's so fat!”

Richard felt around the koala's abdomen. “The joey is still very young; she's not ready to come out yet.”

Bindi realized she now had two koalas to care for! “Will the joey be okay?”

“I hope so. We'll give it a full examination back at the hospital. Would you like to go back with the joey and her mum?”

Bindi nodded. “Definitely.” There was no way this koala was going anywhere without her.

Bindi looked over at Rosie, who was caring for an echidna. The poor critter had lost a few spines, which had melted in the intense heat of the flames. Without them, he would be defenseless in the wild. He also had burns to the skin underneath his spines. Rosie was doing her best to make sure he was comfortable until they could get him back to the hospital.

“Have you thought of a name for the echidna yet?” Bindi asked her friend.

Rosie looked affectionately at the spiky creature. “I know it's not the most original name in the world but I'm calling him Spike. He's a tough little survivor, I just know it!” They chuckled quietly as they watched Spike's long tongue darting this way and that.

Bindi knew that Rosie felt as strongly about her patient as Bindi did about her koala. She looked down at the fluffy ears and the cuddly body of the koala mum fighting for her life. “I'm calling my koala Smokey. She's survived the fire and she's the color of smoke!”

The girls shared a smile. They were both a little scared by the bushfire but it felt good to be helping out.

“Come on, girls! Time to leave!” Richard's voice rang out over the noise. He was loading up the van with the most urgent cases.

“Come on, Smokey. Let's go back to the hospital and get you both well again. I promise to look after you.” Bindi gave the sedated koala an affectionate pat.

Bindi and Rosie helped the others carry several animals over to the van. They were taking Smokey, Spike, an eastern gray kangaroo, a wallaby, four lizards, a brush-tailed possum, and a brown snake back to the hospital. It was a big responsibility to look after these animals but the girls were up to the task. Tracy, Tanya, and Joe were staying behind to care for the next load of incoming patients.

They were feeling that everything was under control when the rescue van turned a sharp corner and skidded to an abrupt halt.

Everyone was thrown sideways. “Whoa!” Rosie called out. “What happened, Dad?”

Richard turned around to check on them. “Are you okay back there?”

“Yeah, we're fine. Just checking on the animals,” said Rosie as she looked over the mini zoo in the back of the van.

Bindi nodded. “Yep, they're all fine.”

Richard hopped out of the van, slamming the door in frustration. “I don't believe it!”

Bindi looked out of the windshield to see that an entire tree was lying across the road. The hot winds fanning the fire had blown over an old gum tree. It completely blocked their path.

This was really bad news!

Bindi called out to Richard. “Can we go a different way, Richard?”

Richard shook his head. “I'm afraid this is the only way out, Bindi.”

Richard nudged the dead trunk with his foot. “We don't have time for this. These animals need help now.”

Rosie and Bindi looked at each other, frightened. All around them was smoke and charred bush. They seemed too close to the fire here. The girls knew all of the animals in the back of the van were relying on them to stay alive. What could they do?

Terri, Katie, and Robert were helping in the wildlife hospital when a voice came over the intercom.

“We've had a call from rescue van one. There's a tree down blocking their path and they need urgent assistance. Critically injured animals need to get to the hospital as soon as possible.”

Terri and Katie were already running to the reception area to get the details. Robert followed as fast as he could.

Terri called over her shoulder. “That'll be Richard, and he has the girls with him!”

They reached the reception. Terri called out to the staff member on the phone. “Tell him we're on our way. And we'll bring chain saws!”

Terri grabbed the keys for the second rescue van. She picked up the loudspeaker for the hospital intercom. “I need three volunteers who can use a chain saw to head out right now!”

In no time a small group was assembled and ready to go.

Robert tugged at Terri's sleeve. “Mum, Mum, I want to come too.”

Terri smiled. “You're a brave kid, Robert Irwin. In you jump.” She held the door open to the van as the volunteers and Robert jumped in the back.

“Let's go!” The van pulled out of the parking lot and they were away.

It was a tense wait for Richard, Bindi, and Rosie back near the fallen tree. The smoke was thick and the outside air temperature was super hot. It was uncomfortable just waiting in the van even with the air conditioning running. The animals really had to be kept cool.

Richard crouched in the back and moved from one animal to the next. He noticed that Bindi kept glancing out the front windshield to see if help had arrived yet.

“There's an old saying: a watched pot never boils. Let's keep busy. I need you both to help me while I tend to this roo. His injuries are serious, he's gone into shock, and his vital signs are dropping fast. I wanted to wait until we got back to the hospital but he needs help now.”

Bindi was on the job. “What do you need us to do?”

Richard was busily sterilizing his hands as best he could. “Well, he's going to need some IV fluid.”

Rosie and Bindi looked at him, wide-eyed.

“The surgery would have been better, but beggars can't be choosers. Come on, girls. Hop to it.”

They sprang into action. Richard prepared a sterile area while giving orders to the girls to hand him instruments and help as much as possible while he attached the IV drip to the kangaroo. They watched anxiously.

Richard finished the operation and settled the kangaroo back into his crib. “We've helped this fellow out as much as we can for now, but he really needs to get to the hospital.”

Rosie turned to her dad. “Do you know how the fire was started?”

He shook his head. “Well, nine times out of ten it's human carelessness. The firefighters suspect it was a campfire in a no-camping zone that got out of control.”

“That's terrible. Why would anyone do that?” Rosie asked.

Richard shook his head. “I don't know. People need to stick to areas that have been set aside for camping. And on a total fire ban day, there is no way they should have been lighting fires.” He turned his attention to a wallaby. “It's an even harder lesson for the animals. They have lost a home as well as a food supply. It will take months and months for the bush to grow back.”

The loud toot of a horn got their attention. Bindi looked out the window to see the other rescue van pull up. Terri and Katie hopped out. Richard waved in relief.

“I don't think I've ever been so happy to see you both!” he called out.

Katie yelled back, “We're happy to be here.”

“Are you girls okay?” Terri asked.

“We're fine, Mum,” Bindi replied. “But we want to get these animals back to the hospital right away!”

Bindi and Rosie stayed in the van with the animals, watching the action through the front windshield. Terri, Katie, and the volunteers began their attack on the tree. Terri was giving instructions over the roar of the chain saws. They used chains attached to the four-wheel drive to begin hauling the large gum tree branches off the road.

It was then that Bindi noticed Robert looking around anxiously from the other van. She opened a window and called out to him. “G'day, Robert!”

Robert's face lit up. He waved furiously. Bindi waved back. Suddenly she felt a bit teary. It had already been a long, hard day and it was far from over.

Rosie knew exactly how Bindi was feeling. She leaned over and gave her best friend a big hug. “Don't worry, B. Our mums will have the tree cleared in no time and we'll make sure the animals get the help they need.”

Bindi hugged her friend back. This was exactly what best friends were for!