'Burnt Christmas tree' is a perfect symbol for Australia's fire-ravaged holiday season - msnNOW
A woman takes a photo 'the Burnt Christmas tree' in Sydney. The art installation is to help support the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund in the wake of the bush fire situation across New South Wales.
“Burnt Christmas tree” was built by artist James Dive from charred logs and other bush fire remnants.
Horses in a paddock as the Gospers Mountain Fire impacts Bilpin, in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on Dec. 21 2019. A
A community Christmas tree stands against a smoke filled sky in Sydney on Dec. 6.
Smoke haze from bush fires blankets the Sydney central business district, as beachgoers jump from a cliff in Nielsen Park.
A burnt Christmas decoration lies on the ground in front of a house recently destroyed by bush fires on the outskirts of the town of Bargo, Australia.
People enjoy their work Christmas party floating down the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 20 2019.
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It’s become a symbol of this year’s tragic holiday season in Australia: a tree crafted from burned bicycles, charred wood and even a fire alarm collected in areas scorched by raging bush fires.
The “burnt Christmas tree” is on display in Sydney’s central business district as “a symbol of support for those who’ve lost their homes and livelihood,” according to the Australian Red Cross, which helped set it up as part of a fundraising campaign.
It’s one of several projects underway by Australians trying to keep a holiday spirit alive as they struggle with the fallout of weeks of fierce fires, sizzling temperatures and suffocating pollution that have left eight people dead and, so far, destroyed more than 700 homes and 3 million acres of farming land.
The chaos pushed Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to cut short a planned family trip to Hawaii. He apologized Friday for being on holiday as the fires blazed. Morrison’s conservative government has tried to calm Australians by emphasizing that bush fires and droughts in the country are common. That has not eased the fears of many who see these fires as symbolizing climate change’s threat to their way of life in a country that’s a major producer of coal, oil, and natural gas.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Karen Webb talks to media at the NSW Rural Fire Service Headquarters on Dec. 21, in Sydney. A catastrophic fire danger warning has been issued for the greater Sydney region, the Illawarra and southern ranges as hot, windy conditions continue to hamper firefighting efforts across NSW. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a state of emergency on Thursday, the second state of emergency declared in NSW since the start of the bushfire season.
Horses in a paddock as the Gospers Mountain Fire impacts Bilpin, in the Blue Mountains, on Dec. 21. According to media reports, conditions are expected to worsen across much of the state as temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius.
A firefighting helicopter in action as the Grose Valley Fire approaches Bilpin, New South Wales, on Dec. 21.
A general view shows smoke from a bushfire near Gumeracha in the Adelaide Hills, on Dec. 21.
Firefighters tend to burning property caused by bushfires in Bargo, southwest of Sydney, on Dec. 21.
Smoke haze from bushfires blankets the Sydney central business district as beachgoers jump from a cliff in Nielsen Park during hot weather on Dec. 21.
Helicopters dump water on bushfires as they approach homes located on the outskirts of the town of Bargo on Dec. 21.
Staff work at the NSW Rural Fire Service State Operations Centre at the NSW Rural Fire Service Headquarters at Sydney Olympic Park on Dec. 21.
Firefighters tend to burning property caused by bushfires in Bargo, on Dec. 21.
The sky is filled with smoke, and ash on Dec. 21, in Shoalhaven Heads.
Sunbathers are seen on Bondi Beach as temperatures soar in Sydney on Dec. 21.
NSW Rural Fire Service crews fight the Gospers Mountain Fire as it impacts a structure at Bilpin, in the Blue Mountains, on Dec. 21.
Members of the Horsley Park RFS are seen at a memorial for volunteer firefighters who died when their fire truck was struck by a falling tree as it traveled through the front line of a fire, at the Horsley Park Rural Fire Brigade on Dec. 20, in Horsley Park, NSW, Australia.
A farmer uses a hose to douse flames as he drives a tractor in a burning paddock where a large bush fire burns near homes on the outskirts of the town of Bilpin on Dec. 19, in Sydney, Australia.
Fire and rescue personnel prepare to use a hose in an effort to extinguish a bush fire as it burns near homes on Dec. 19, in Sydney, Australia.
Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews engage in property protection of a number of homes along the Old Hume Highway on Dec. 19, in the southwest of Sydney, Australia.
Residents watch a large bushfire as seen from Bargo, 150km southwest of Sydney, on Dec. 19. A state of emergency was declared in Australia's most populated region as an unprecedented heatwave fanned out-of-control bushfires, destroying homes and smothering huge areas with a toxic smoke.
A helicopter drops fire retardant to protect a property in Balmoral, on Dec. 19.
A property burns from bushfires in Balmoral, on Dec. 19.
A tourist boat rides on the Harbour in thick smoke in Sydney, on Dec. 19.
A bushfire burns behind a property in Balmoral, on Dec. 19.
A helicopter drops water onto a large bushfire in Bargo, on Dec. 19.
Trees burn as a bushfire threatens homes on the outskirts of the town of Bilpin, on Dec. 19.
A farmer drives a tractor as he uses a hose to put out a fire burning in his paddock on Dec. 19, in Sydney.
A firefighter pulls a hose to douse a bushfire in Dargan, on Dec. 18.
Burnt trees are seen after a bushfire in Mount Weison in Blue Mountains, on Dec. 18.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service and Fire and Rescue crews work to contain the Gospers Mountain fire in the Blue Mountains National Park, Australia, on Dec. 17.
Australia's New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian (C) meets with NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers (L) and RFS Superintendent Karen Hodges (R) during a briefing in Wilberforce, Australia, on Dec. 17.
Fire and rescue crews work to contain the Gospers Mountain fire in the Blue Mountains National Park, Australia, on Dec. 17.
Emergency Leaders for Climate Action spokesperson Greg Mullins speaks at a media event in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 17.
Fire and Rescue crews work to contain the Gospers Mountain fire in the Blue Mountains National Park, Australia, on Dec. 17.
Demonstrators participate in a climate protest rally in Sydney on Dec. 15.
A bushfire burns outside the Perth Cricket Satdium in Perth on Dec. 13.
Activists rally for climate action at Hyde Park on Dec. 11, in Sydney.
A man wears a face mask as smoke haze is seen over Sydney and the air quality index reaches higher than ten times hazardous levels in some suburbs on Dec. 11.
A young girl wearing a mask looks on during a rally for climate action at Sydney Town Hall on Dec. 11, in Sydney.
A number of bushfires combined into a single giant blaze north of Sydney on Dec. 10, blanketing Australia’s biggest city in hazardous smoke. Firefighters believe it will take weeks to control the blaze.
Firefighters spring to action at the Three Mile Fire in the suburb of Kulnura on Dec. 10.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is enveloped in haze caused by nearby bushfires on Dec. 10
Thick smoke from wildfires shroud the Opera House on Dec. 10.
Smoke haze is seen over Bondi Beach on Dec. 10.
Firefighters battle a flare-up on Dec. 10.
Residents look on from a balcony as smoke and flames from a back burn, conducted to secure the area from encroaching bushfires, are seen close to homes at the Spencer area in Central Coast, some 90-110 kilometres north of Sydney on Dec. 9.
A Rural Fire Service firefighters starts a controlled backburn in an effort to contain an approaching fire near Nattai, southwest of Sydney, on Dec. 7.
A New South Wales Rural Fire Service officer establishes a backburn to contain a bushfire in Mangrove Mountain, on Dec. 8.
A New South Wales Rural Fire Service officer establishes a backburn to contain a bushfire in Mangrove Mountain, on Dec. 8.
A firefighter conducting back burning measures to secure residential areas from encroaching bushfires. on Dec. 7.
A fire rating display showing high alert as bushfire burn at the Mangrove Dam, on Dec. 7.
Flames from back burning measures, used to secure residential areas from encroaching bushfires, on Dec. 7.
Firefighters conducting back burning measures to secure residential areas from encroaching bushfires, on Dec. 7.
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In the meantime, Australians, aren’t giving up. Aid groups such as the Salvation Army have set up stations across affected areas, while volunteer firefighters have deployed for weeks now despite the low pay and many dangers, including death. Charities are urging people to buy gifts, anything from crafts to a Christmas ham, from businesses in areas affected by the fires. Even firefighters in Canada have offered to give up their Christmas or winter break to come to Australia and help fight the blaze.
Australian schools are now closed for a holiday break, a popular time to travel to areas around Sydney, such as the Blue Mountains and Shoalhaven and Illawarra regions, that this year are engulfed in flames. At first Australians were hesitant to change Christmas or other vacation plans, but now authorities are warning residents of smoke-filled Sydney not to leave, lest they become caught in burning roads and inferno-like conditions, the Guardian reported.
Still, there have been little moments of luck or, for some, miracles, along the way.
A man who calls himself Neil — who told Australia’s ABC that he “wished to remain anonymous because he believes that is part of the fun” — has for the past seven years decorated one tree along a road in Queensland with Christmas lights and cheer, after his wife first came up with the idea. Last year, their efforts went locally viral on Facebook when they added solar-powered lights. This year, Neil was so sure the yuletide tree would be lost to the flames that he had already bought new decorations.
But help came in the form of 70-year-old volunteer firefighter Curl Santacaterina, who insisted they save that tree. And so Santacaterina bravely stood on the back of a firetruck and sprayed a hose to water the tree as flames raged around him.
“We’re really, really pleased that everybody is getting a buzz out of it and getting a bit of Christmas spirit,” Neil told ABC.
He added, “When I heard it had been saved I guess I almost got a bit emotional about it. ... I thought ‘wow, this has really taken off and got a bit of community spirit — a bit of something happening’.”
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