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Cute sign spotted on Christmas Day in Marysville, one of the towns sadly obliterated by the bushfires

I spent last Christmas with eight other people in the pretty town of Marysville in the Yarra Valley. Yesterday, I heard the news that the town was almost completely destroyed in the Victorian bush fires over the weekend, with only 15 to 20 homes escaping the blaze. Around half a dozen people are reported dead, with many more still missing.

On Sunday, when the confirmed death toll across the state was much lower, I hadn’t given the bush fires much thought. I knew that Australians have to deal with them fairly regularly each summer as temperatures soar and rain scarcely falls. I suppose it shows that when something happens in a place you are familiar with, the devastating consequences resonate more strongly with you. It got me thinking about the fate of the nice couple who served us coffee on Boxing Day or the lady who ran the complex where we stayed.

And Marysville is not the only town to be affected. According to today’s edition of The Age, more than 130 lives have been lost across Victoria and that looks set to climb to around 300. The most shocking fact to emerge is that the evidence suggests that many of these fires were started deliberately.

Even today, with the temperature substantially below the 46°C of three days ago, bush fires are still burning across the state. I am starting to hear more and more personal stories about how people have been affected by the fires, some through the press and some from personal contacts.

One of the people I spent Christmas with arrives in Melbourne today after the town he lives in was evacuated. And I’m sure I’ll hear other terrible stories as the week progresses.