Fireflies (2004): Season 1, Episode 20 - Fighting Fire with Fire - full transcript
Lost River's very existence is threatened by the fires. Backa believes that it is less than 24 hours before the fires reach the village. The Lost River brigade also insist on sniping in front of Divisional Commander Donna Bruce. Svettie makes an unexpected visit to the station and learns that the fire may reach Deep Creek by nightfall and alerts Sharpie, who enlists the help of his son Hank, to help harvest their Deep Creek plantation before the fire arrives. Meanwhile, Lill asks Perry for a truce until the fire has passed, but Perry refuses. Backa convinces Donna that the only way he can unite his brigade is to get them out to the fire ground. However, when they confront the raging fire, the flames have spread too far and Backa is forced to fall back to Deep Creek to backburn. Svettie, cut off from all communication, is in the middle of the area he intends to burn. Kieran, knowing where his father, brother and Svettie are, convinces Lill that they must warn them before they get trapped. When Lill becomes a hero on the fire ground, she realises maybe she'll be able to survive on her own after all.
- You been drinking?
Janine just called.
- Oh, of course she did!
- Oh, here we go.
Ah!
- You make me sick, Perry!
Hi, you've phoned lil.
Perry lives somewhere else.
- Fire comm!
We're between two fronts on tousa road.
One fire's moving faster than we can.
- Fire
comm to tousa captain.
Section 44, I want all crews out.
- Negative on that back burn.
Not until we get permission.
- No can do, backa.
- When that south westerly hits,
the fire is gonna head
directly for lost river, Fifi.
- Unless you want to be
taken off the fire gun,
you will do as you're told!
You understand, lost river 1?
Fire comm clear!
- You okay, fif?
- Yeah. No.
Bryce lost his house today.
- Stay away from my wife.
- You got the wrong idea, mate.
- I know what you're doing, mate.
I won't tell you again.
Stay away from my wife.
- Backa, if I were you,
I'd keep my eye on her.
You need to protect her.
She's her own worst enemy.
♪ I have to pinch myself to feel ♪
♪ if what is going on is real ♪
♪ from the gods themselves we steal ♪
♪ night and day ♪
♪ night and day ♪
♪ a jug of wine, a loaf
of bread, and thee ♪
♪ lyin' on a blanket underneath
that big ol' spreadin' tree ♪
♪ it's such a beautiful feeling ♪
♪ it's such a beautiful feeling ♪
- The fires have all joined up here,
and the north westerlies are
pushing them towards fox cove.
- So what about us?
- We'll have to wait and see.
- What's the chance of it
getting into deep creek?
- Well, after what I saw
today, anything's possible.
- Don't even think about it.
- We're doing it!
We gotta harvest before it burns down.
- The fire probably won't
even make it to deep creek.
- Well, then what's the
harm in harvesting?
- Because they won't be ready!
It's not worth the risk
until the buds come out.
What's this?
God, I'm good!
No, we can't.
The roads will be crawling
with cops and firetrucks.
- Oh, great!
Well, this is goodbye, then, yeah?
Bank and val will divide the house.
Me and backa divide the kids.
Jeff will give me money
to go to Canada.
- Hi, Mike.
- Been shooting lately?
Out near deep creek?
- Don't have to go that
far to get a snake.
They seem to pop up all over the place.
- What about a bit of hobby farming?
- Mike, can I have a word with you?
- I will lose everything.
Everything!
- Secateurs.
Some drinking water.
Some sports bags, all different types.
Innocent-looking ones.
- How does a bag look guilty?
- Hmm.
- So basically, I think we
just hang out where we are
and wait for the next report.
- G'day, boss!
Sorry I'm late.
- Yeah, I just got here, myself.
Took the long way 'round
and had a reckie.
It looks bigger than '83.
- Oh, come on, Donna,
you don't remember '83.
- Everyone remembers '83.
You know I'm not here
to tread on your toes.
It's your station, your town.
I'll be relying on you for advice.
- Yeah, right, while I'm here.
I mean, you're about to
send us out, aren't you?
Shall we?
- I'm the divisional commander
for the lost river Ford staging area.
We've established a div comm here
because a south westerly is forecast.
It'll drive the fire towards us.
The front's expected
on the eastern side
of the village by tomorrow morning.
Our job is to prepare the town.
There's a lot of bush and
quite a few homesteads
between the fire and us.
If it advances, we'll be doing
property protection by this afternoon.
Tim Burke, the local captain,
has another concern.
Backa?
- Uh, this south westerly
could send spot fires
in cathedral's nature reserve.
It's tough country.
A fire in there would burn
to deep creek by tonight.
That would mean a second fire front
arriving on the West Side of lost river
at the same time as the main
front arrives from the east.
- I'll get you blokes to head
down to the muster area.
You'll get maps and sectors and
start cutting fire trails.
I'll send some of the losties down
to help you with directions.
- Yeah, if you're lucky, we'll
send you the pretty ones.
- We've gotta make the place fire safe.
We've gotta clear the gutters out,
we've gotta move that
wood away from the house,
check the pump.
- I've gotta go into town.
- Why?
- The health department has seconded me
to the section 44 evacuation team.
It's gonna be me and
the ladies of the cwa.
- What are you gonna tell them?
- Walked into a door.
- Can't you just say that you were
working on the house and
a beam fell down and
the weight of the wheelbarrow...
- yeah, whatever you want.
- You betrayed me,
and I'm the one that's
treated like shit.
You promised me a baby, Perry.
That was our dream.
- And what about the rest of the dream?
What about our home, our
life, our marriage?
If all you wanted was a baby,
you could've gone to a sperm bank
and saved us both the grief.
- I don't want us to be at
each other's throats here!
I want us to...
- I'm not at your throat.
- A truce.
- No you don't.
You want comfort.
You're feeling lonely
and a bit insecure,
and you want me to tell you
everything's gonna be all right.
Well, I'm not gonna do that.
- Perry, there's a fire com...
- every time we put a band-aid on this,
the wound has festered over.
Well, not anymore.
I'm not gonna hold your hand while you
rip our marriage apart.
If you want to do it, you'll
have to do it on your own.
- Ah, did you miss us?
Or did they stop you at the border?
- Didn't you like Ellie?
- I loved it!
I'm just back for my bike
and my girl, all right,
and then I'm hittin' the road.
- I couldn't temp you
with a fair day's work
for a bloody good day's pay?
- Bike, girl, paradise.
- You see, mate, we're under
a bit of time pressure.
And me and svettie, we
could use the extra...
- Kieran!
Ah!
What've you eaten?
You look half starved!
- I'll give you a hand
with the harvesting.
I doubt what you're offering to Kieran.
- Sharpie!
Are you out of your mind?
There's a bloody great
bush fire out there!
- It's miles away!
- Backa says it won't reach
deep creek 'til tonight.
- It's a bush fire, svettie.
They don't go by the rules.
- I don't have a choice!
- You always have a choice.
- Ah, come on!
Time is money here, people!
- Big fire?
- Section 44.
- Jesus, ma!
This place is a disaster area!
There's dry grass up to the bush.
There's a pile of wood
up against the fence.
Hasn't fif said anything?
- Haven't seen her.
- Idiot!
- Ugh!
- Ooh, this is fun!
- Listen, you couldn't
stay for a bit, could ya'?
Slash the grass?
Give me a hand with the gutters?
- You'd reckon between Hank and sharpie!
Bike, girl, paradise.
- Come on!
- Jesus!
- Three spot fires in the cathedrals.
- One confirmed at map
reference 3-6-1-1-1-4.
Unconfirmed columns of smoke
to the north and east,
awaiting further intelligence.
- Okay, well if we set up sectors there
and there along cathedrals road
and back burn in towards
the spires and north elm,
we can cut it off before
the south westerly
blows it in to deep creek.
- Aren't we waiting for
further intelligence, backa?
Or did I mishear, mate?
- The situation's still unclear.
- Clear to me.
Any fire, in any direction,
can be attacked from cathedrals road.
You've been in there, come on!
- Many times.
'83, '89 when the hazard
reduction went wrong.
The north elm fire?
You remember that.
- Bryce is onto it.
- Bryce has priorities!
He's trying to protect fox cove!
This...
- What? What's wrong?
- Nothing, absolutely nothing.
The sexy little beasts
are full of buds!
I don't know who you
prayed to, Svetlana,
but it worked!
Hey, a little bit of reverence.
Right, grab a bag and some secateurs.
We're harvesting buds.
Buds and tips.
When you finish with
a plant, dig it up.
We'll come back some
night and pick 'em up
after the fire's been through.
- Hey, sharpie, how much
do you think it's worth?
- This plot alone,
Svetlana, will save you.
Save you and then some!
- Are we not leaving the other plots?
- No, no, Hank can start
on the ones further down.
- Oh, yeah, and what's my share?
- Wages, mate.
Unskilled labor.
- And what do I
get for keeping quiet?
- You get to keep your balls.
- Yeah, yeah, I know
what happened in '93,
but I still need a crew for here.
Right.
Yep, right.
Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
Okay, see ya', mate.
- Maybe, maybe, maybe, no,
uncontactable, maybe.
Gee, you're doing well.
- Half reckon they're about to burn,
and they're out securing stock.
The other half reckon it's gonna
get stopped at the river.
- What, like it did in '93?
- Right, and the other half reckon
that they're not gonna
pick up the phones
because of the lightning last night.
- I'm glad you're doing the counting.
- Mmm, this town is daft.
- What's the latest from fire comm?
- Crews are being
peeled off from tousa.
Bryce thinks that'll
handle the spot fires.
- Well, what do you think?
- Even if I send you
out as sector leader,
it'll be with strike
team crews, not locals.
- Why?
- You haven't got enough losties
to crew both your trucks,
and the ones you have got are bullshit.
Your brigade's looking dysfunctional.
- The incident management team
set up an evacuation team.
I'm getting the farmers
out of caron gullah.
- What?
Oh, for keg-headed
shit-for-brains, that...
Donna!
- What's up?
- This jerk want to
evacuate caron gullah.
- I've got orders, mate.
Lea con.
- It'll be a misunderstanding.
I'll talk to Bryce.
- Backa, look if this is personal...
- Mike, what are you talking about?
There's nothing personal
about evacuations!
- Look at me, mate.
As if I'm gonna pull your missus.
- That's a pretty good line, mate.
How many husbands you use that one on?
There's a fire coming.
How 'bout you put it away
for a couple of days, huh?
- Okay, boys, we can all play nice now.
Bryce suggested relocation
of the elderly and infirm.
Lea con assumed he meant evacuation.
- Yeah, well, assumptions are
the mother of all stuff-ups.
- Hey, how long have you known
that he's been sniffing around svettie?
- Yesterday!
She told me yesterday.
- But do you know, he's been busy.
- I had no idea.
- You see, I would've bet the
farm that it was trev arkley,
but he moved to towamba,
or there's other
problems out of the way.
And you would've told me, wouldn't you?
If you knew that Mike
was trying something?
Yeah?
- It's okay.
- What about you, love?
Would you have told me if
he was giving you the eye?
- I love you.
- I'm gonna kill him.
I'm gonna find that bag of pork.
I'm gonna cut him open.
It's a south westerly.
- Hey, you hear that?
- Chopper.
- On it's way
to ingram, to a fire.
- It might be surveillance,
looking out for spot fires.
- Can you check the scanner?
Find out what's going on?
- The scanner's Fifi's.
She took it back.
- At least turn the
radio up to the news.
- 'Cept we're glued to the station.
Sharpie's version of child-proofing.
- Yeah.
- Hey, when are you gonna
stop for a smoke, huh?
- I don't smoke.
It's bad for you.
- Yeah, right.
- How much of it now?
- Two more bags like this,
and you've paid off your debt.
- We'll be here all day.
- Then keep pickin'.
- Oh, mena, I've been seconded
to the evacuation team.
- Oh, good man!
I was pleased when Lou suggested you.
- I was working on the house,
and a beam came down and...
- none of my business.
I've got the accommodation
thing under control.
Beds, blankets, food.
Docs have sent me all the paperwork.
Would you go down to the fire station,
find out which areas are
potentially threatened?
Phone the homes, suggest
that they should relocate
the elderly, the infirm,
children, anyone likely
to be spooked by the fire?
- Mm, and then do I
come back here, or...
- Well, you're welcome
back here, of course,
but I don't mind if you just
find a private spot somewhere
and call the numbers in to me.
- Mm.
- I'll need you back here,
of course, when the evacuees come in.
You'll be their contact person,
and some of them are
gonna need counseling.
Perry, I don't want you to think
I'm teaching you to suck eggs.
- Go on.
- Well, bush fires can bring
out the best in people,
but they can also bring out the worst.
- That's true of most things.
- Yeah, well, in a
little place like this,
if a fault line appears,
we can crack along it.
You look surprised.
- Yeah, I shouldn't be, should I?
- Well, I'm just pleased
that we've got a professional around,
someone who understands trauma.
- Thanks.
- Ah, Perry?
My husband never listens
the first time, either.
- Hey, noodle! Noodle!
Oh, right hook!
Bit of a king hit!
- I was working on the
house, and beam fell down
and the weight of the
wheelbarrow pushed me into it.
- Ah, right, yeah.
No wonder Hank says you're smart.
- Hmm.
- You're back.
- Came to get you.
And the bike, but mainly you.
It's fantastic up there!
I've got a job at a
resort and my own room,
and you'll love it!
- You want me to go to Ellie beach?
With you? On that?
And do what?
- I don't know, go to school?
I could get you a job.
- A job?
Great! Mum'll be stoked!
I'll tell her all about it when
we go and pick up my bikini.
Or is that too much
to carry on the bike?
- God, noodle.
It'll be fun; You'll love it.
- True words.
As if.
Can't believe he wants
me to leave home.
- Put a band-aid on it?
We've put bloody band-AIDS on.
Bloody oh.
Why'd you say you do it anyway, Perry?
I'll do it myself, anyway.
Get up!
Get up there!
But his own bloody house.
Ugh!
- Choppers have identified
more spot fires.
They have the south
westerly behind them.
You were right, let's call Bryce.
- Fire comm I.C.
- Bryce, it's backa.
I'm going to put you on speaker.
- Fine, backa.
- I'm requesting to be sent
out to the cathedrals.
I know ingram is the big one,
but if we have to fight
on two fronts tomorrow,
I'm not sure we can save the village.
- I've got crews
in the cathedrals.
They're dealing with the spot fires.
- I know the terrain, Bryce!
There's no way they'll
get to those spotties!
They'll be forced out,
the fires will join up,
and they'll head this way!
I've been back burning the cathedrals
since my old man was the captain.
I know how to stop the fires!
- Let me speak
to lost river div comm.
- Bryce, it's Donna.
I want to send him out.
- How are you gonna do it?
- Joey and backa will
each lead a strike team
and back burn the cathedrals road.
- Your call.
- A strike team?
- Your brigade's not up to it.
- This time tomorrow,
my brigade is gonna be
fighting to save the village!
I need to get them out
there, working as a unit.
It's the only way we can
stop 'em fracturing.
- Where are they, backa?
Ben? - Yeah.
- Can you get Mike down here
so I can talk to him about roadblocks?
- Onto it.
- Up here.
- What are you doing?
Catching a sea breeze?
- Thought I'd do a rain dance.
Heard the farmers are screaming
out for it.
- Backa says he wants
you to talk to him.
Convince him you aren't off the air.
Yeah, better take the broom, yeah.
- Kieran, what are you doing?
- What?
- Comin' to the station?
- Nah.
- Backa's calling every man
and his three-legged dog.
- I already handed my pager in.
- Well, the fire's just not at ingram.
There's spotties in the cathedrals.
They join up, it's
gonna burn deep creek.
And your bike.
- Well, that's your
debt to val paid off,
give or take a spliff.
Let's call it a day, eh?
- No way!
This is my one chance to dig
myself out of this bloody mess.
I'm not gonna let it go up in smoke.
- Um, it's meant to go
up in smoke, svet, eh?
That's what it's for, eh?
Hey, do you smell smoke? - No.
- I smell it.
- It's from ingram.
- Pig's ass.
- I'm giving you crews from kellyville,
balkum hills, and Duffy's forest.
- What happened to the other bloke?
- I was working on the house,
and a beam fell down...
- I'll send the upper hunter's
strike teams with Joey.
- I need some information.
I'm handling the relocations.
- Yeah, talk to patto.
Uh, eris, where's patto?
- Don't know.
- Ah, great!
Lily ingle, Donna Bruce,
group captain from glenville
and queen of the spinning wheel.
- Oh, should I curtsy?
- Are you ambitious?
- How you feelin'?
- Top o' the world!
- Well, that's three more losties.
- Two, Joey's leading sector bravo.
- Hey, heard you's having a fire,
so I brought some mates along.
- On here, patto.
- Patto!
- You've got your crew,
so I'll assign three more
district crews to make up your sector.
- Good.
- Someone give you that, or did
you have to fight for her?
- Hey, I need your help.
- Mike.
How are you, mate?
- Yeah, good, mate, good.
- Oink, oink! Oink, oink!
Oink, oink!
- Cut it! Cut it!
All of you!
We need roadblocks, Mike.
Uh, cathedrals road, deep creek
road, caron gullah road.
What do you reckon?
- I have no orders.
- Well, Bryce has cleared
it with lea comm.
They'll handle it from there.
- Yep, ta.
- I saw this happening.
- Okay, people, let's get organized.
- Eris!
I need you, mate!
Look, if you don't cut this crap out,
I will not send you out.
- Don't blame me!
I didn't tell them to make
stupid pig noises, did I?
- There is only one way
that you could get those
firies to treat another
service with such disrespect.
- Disrespect?
After what he did to me?
- You told them that he was with her
while you were in the
burn over, didn't you?
I thought you'd forgiven her?
- I have forgiven her!
- Then why did you humiliate
her all over again?
Luisa, you're on Dave's crew.
- Thanks, backa.
- Oh, oh, we're too late!
By the time we get the
back burn started,
they'll be jumping the road.
We gotta fall back to deep creek.
- Or you could go down south.
And that'd get the wind
behind the back burn.
My sector could clear
a line from the road
and some of these spotties...
- do you have to disagree
with everything I say?
- Oh, excuse me.
Sector leader bravo to
sector leader Alpha,
permission to speak, sir.
- Just cut the bullshit, Joey.
- And sector leader bravo suggests
chain of command places him under the
divisional commander,
not lost river captain.
- Hey, backa, I reckon Joe's right.
I don't think we need
to burn deep creek.
- Nobody's asking you, Kieran.
- Lost river div comm, this
is lost river captain, blue?
- Yeah, thanks,
yeah, I'll hold.
- Lost river captain, go ahead.
- The fire's twice as big
and three times as fast
the chopper report.
It's in north elm.
This bar is pretty well alight.
It couldn't be more than a couple of ks
from the road in some places.
- Do you require backup?
- No, not here.
We need to fall back to deep creek.
If we use the creek as
a containment line,
we can burn the full
10 ks from deep creek
up to cathedrals road.
- I'll talk to Bryce.
Lost river div comm, clear.
- Lost river div comm,
this is sector leader bravo, blue?
- Sector leader
bravo, go ahead.
- Yeah, even a small burn from the road
could stop the main fire front
from spottin' into deep creek.
- Yeah, thanks, Joey.
I'll run that by Bryce.
Lost river div comm, clear.
- Lost river div comm to sector
leaders Alpha and bravo.
Fall back to deep creek.
- Lost river div comm, this
is lost river captain, blue?
Copy that.
I suggest sector Alpha to the north,
sector bravo to the south.
- Sounds fine to me.
Lost river div comm, clear.
- I's thinking that I'd
start the burn at the top,
burn up a k, then start the next burn
about a k south of that.
- Sounds like a plan.
- That way any embers driven
by the south westerly
would end up falling
in parts that we've
already back burned.
- Yeah, I get it, backa.
- So what happens now?
- We back burn deep creek.
- Are we burning this gully here?
- Uh, yeah, no, that'll be the
top of Joe's burn at 12:45.
I've marked up the map
with my areas of the burn.
Give that to Joey, tell
him to call Donna.
Take the pc.
Lil, you can drive.
- I'll be all right by myself.
- Kieran, nobody goes into
fire ground by themselves.
You gonna be between two back burns.
Stay together at all times.
Use your radio to check in.
I want to know where you are.
- Yes, ma'am.
- How 'bout a little keep, love?
- Yeah, sure.
- Sharpie!
Svettie!
Hank!
- It's time to head out now, Svetlana.
That fire's the real thing.
- That's miles away.
We'd hear it coming.
- Yeah, just before we fried.
- Look, you've got enough
there to pay off val
and have the same again.
- That's not enough!
I need to get out from under Jeff.
- A bird in the hand, Svetlana.
This is the best smoke-o
this side of the divide.
- I don't care about smoke-o!
I care about saving my family.
- Enough's enough.
- Yeah?
- Yeah!
You're not gonna be any
good to your family
lying like a barbecued
chook in the middle of
sharpie's special herbs and spices!
- We're staying here.
- Suit yourselves.
- Look, she's not like you, sharpie.
She wants a better life for her kids.
You want us to roll around
in the same shit you do.
- You had me worried there.
I thought you were serious for a sec.
You been rollin' around
in your own shit
as long as I can remember!
- Well, I'm not going.
I'm finishing the harvest.
- Well, that's just fine, Svetlana!
Hank!
I'm gonna take a run up
to the cathedral lookout!
See exactly where this fire is.
Be ready the second I get back!
- Okay!
- Yeah, Benny, keep the line
going around here, mate.
- Yeah, got it.
- Gary, could you check
the line down the back, mate?
- Yeah, I got that.
- A bit further
down that way, mate.
- Okay, mate.
- Joey, what are you doing?
You weren't meant to start
your back burn until 12:45!
- 12:00, div comm said the
back burn commenced at 12:00.
- Joey, that was backa's sector, Alpha!
He wanted to be near finished
so your embers wouldn't
start spotties behind him.
- Well, if I'd known
that five minutes ago...
- Ah!
- I could've put it out!
There's no way we can stop it now!
- Backa's plan.
Five minutes out of date.
- Ah! I'll call him.
- Sector Alpha, this is sector bravo.
Backa, I have stuffed up!
- Joey, backa here.
We're waiting.
What's the problem?
- I got the times wrong.
I started the fire at 12:00.
It's gone too far now,
I cannot stop it.
- All right,
well, can't be helped.
You continue with your burn.
We'll move a couple of ks further south
and meet your burn halfway.
- Sorry, mate.
Div comm said 12:00.
I assumed that meant the both of us.
- Joey, it's done now.
Uh, I'll call you when
we start our burn.
- Lil, can you pull over?
- Again?
Is there something
you're not telling me?
- It's sharpie.
Look, sharpie, and svettie, and Hank,
they're at the bottom of that valley
harvesting a crop.
- Right.
We gotta call backa.
- No, you can't!
He'll kill her, he'll
absolutely lose it,
and he'll kill her.
Look, it's five minutes, lil.
It's five minutes from the
end of the fire trail
to the bottom of the Ridge.
Once they're out, we can call
every crew in the state.
It's five minutes.
- All right, first whiff
of smoke, we call backa.
All right, deal? - Deal.
- So how much do you need?
- A lot.
- You know sharpie's not gonna get
the greatest price for it.
Oh, he won't shoot ya,
but you know, there'll be this bloke
who he owes a favor to,
another one who always
gets a buy off discount,
another one he owes a bit
because last year's crop
was a bit light on.
How can you grow these
crops, year after year,
and never have any money?
Whatever price he's offered you,
I can get you at least half again.
- Hm, but how long will it take?
- Third up front?
Time again for the next two months?
We split the difference.
Whatever I earn you
above sharpie's price
we split 50-50.
- You're a bad boy.
- Hey, svet?
- Hmm?
- Stop for a bit.
Look at the smoke.
- I don't need to look, I can smell.
- It's not just coming
from the cathedrals.
It's coming over that Ridge.
- Can't be.
Well, it's only smoke.
He will come back, he didn't run away?
- Sharpie? No way!
- What if he can't get back?
Can't really see where
it's coming from.
- Don't worry, he'll be back.
We'll be fine.
And if he's not, just breathe in.
Must be worse ways to go.
- Two, three...
- Sharpie!
- It's no good, we have to go down.
- They can't be still down there.
They can't be that stupid.
- Lil, you can see the fire
coming from the cathedrals.
Backa told svettie it wouldn't
be here 'til late afternoon.
- They'd have smelled it!
- Yeah, and decided it's miles away.
- All right, we'll go down.
- Hank! Svettie!
You've gotta get out of here!
- Oy, felt like a smoke, did ya?
- Where's dad?
- He went up to cathedral
lookout to check out the fires.
- It's not coming from the cathedrals.
We're in the middle of
two back burns here.
It's gonna come down at
us from both ridges.
- Does backa know we're here?
- Not yet, no.
- You can't tell him!
- Svettie, you're in danger!
See that smoke on the top of the Ridge?
That's the top of Joey's burn.
There's a south westerly behind it.
It'll be here in 10 minutes!
- Well, then we'll
start walking north.
Sharpie can pick us up on the way.
- No, no, backa's already
started his burn.
It could be anywhere
between here and the road.
The only safe way out is up that Ridge
and to the pc.
- Right.
- No, you can't take that!
We have to run up that hill.
- No, I'm not going.
- Then I'm gonna call backa,
tell him to stop the burn...
- no, no!
- And send in another crew.
- No, you're not callin' no one.
Now, give us a hand.
- You idiot!
- Ah!
- That radio's our lifeline!
Do you care? Get off!
- Fire's on the Ridge!
- I hope you burn, you
miserable, skanky bastard!
I hope you burn.
- Kieran, it's too late.
- Can't get out.
- Can't we go to the cathedrals road?
- What's that fire trail like?
- Stuffed, overgrown, out of use.
That's why sharpie chose it.
- Then it's a death trap.
We get caught in that,
nothing can save us.
- Nothing's gonna save us here, either.
- I'm sorry.
- Kieran, we're not dead yet.
- Kieran, it's backa here.
Can you respond?
Lil, are you there?
Lil?
Joey?
Come in, Joey?
- Here, backa.
- Joey, lil and Kieran
haven't come back yet.
I can't raise 'em on the radio.
Could you send a vehicle
down to check the road?
Make sure they haven't
got stuck somewhere?
- Yeah, sure thing, mate.
- Hey, lil, there's spotties
coming from the cathedral.
- All right, so we're gonna
put in a back burn all right?
We're gonna fight fire with fire.
Our burn will go up that Ridge,
faster than the fire can come down.
So we need drip torches.
Get some banks for your
head and some sticks.
Whack 'em together.
Get all this stuff out.
We'll move backwards and outwards.
Anything that will burn, all right?
Get it out!
- Lil?
- All right.
All right, I'll start the
first one to the left.
You light the right flank.
All right, Kieran?
- Yeah.
- Keep an eye out for embers.
That Ridge fire's getting closer.
- Yeah, right on, lil.
- Yep, left-hand containment's alight.
Move back to the clearing.
- Hey, noodle, what's up?
- I'm looking for Kieran sharp.
His bike is outside.
- He's out on cat one.
He won't be back until
the end of the day.
- I'll wait.
- Lost river div comm,
this is sector leader Alpha, red.
- Sector leader Alpha, go ahead.
- We have two lost firefighters.
Repeat, we have two
firefighters missing
on the deep creek road,
halfway between sector Alpha back burn
and the sector bravo back burn.
Barrier's ablaze.
Situation's highly dangerous.
- Do you have an ID
on the firefighters?
- Kieran sharp and Lily ingle.
- I'll organize a chopper
to do an aerial search.
Do you want backup?
- Negative, Donna, no time.
I'm gonna take eris off the ground,
put him in charge of the sector,
and I'm gonna take a crew down
in the cat one and check
every fire trail.
- I want to go out there.
- You sit down by that
phone and don't move.
This stuff happens all the time.
- Lil, those trees off to
the right have caught.
- All right, it'll come
towards us slowly.
Just try and shovel it out
as it reaches the clearing, all right?
- Embers!
- Slap 'em out!
Stamp 'em out.
Don't let 'em catch.
Ooh, look at that fire trail go up.
- Let's hope sharpie's having a smoke
at cathedrals lookout and
not stuck on that trail.
- All right, is everybody ready?
- Yes.
- Yep.
- This fire could easily
blow back onto us, okay?
- Ah, spotty! Spotty!
- Lost river div comm, this is
lost river captain, yellow.
- Lost river captain, go ahead.
- Yeah, we've located their vehicle
at the end of a fire trail.
There's no one in it.
- Kieran!
Lil!
- Kieran!
- Kieran!
Lil!
- It's topped the Ridge.
- You're amazing, you know that?
Completely, mind-blowingly, amazing!
- Hank! Svetlana!
Are you all right?
- Hey, we're all right.
- Thank you! Thank you!
I thought I'd killed 'em.
- Cat seven just went by.
Still no sign.
- Backa!
- Lost river div comm,
lost river captain, blue.
- Lost river captain, go ahead.
- They're safe.
They're safe, they're
walking towards me.
- Thank god!
- I'll call off the troops.
And backa?
Tell Lily ingle her husband's here.
Lost river div comm, clear.
- Perry's at the station.
You guy's all right?
- Yeah, good.
- So what happened?
- Well, I stopped for a piss,
and saw some campers down at
the bottom of the valley.
- Campers?
There's been a fire in
the district for days!
- Yeah, I know, well,
they weren't that bright.
- Why didn't you call us on the radio?
- Well, I lost it.
- Then you should've driven
out and got someone.
- Well, I couldn't, there was no time.
I mean, it was five minutes
to the bottom of the Ridge,
and then if they hadn't insisted
that we take their stuff,
we could've been out of there
before the fire reached us.
- Stuff?
Where are these campers at the moment?
- Well, they went out
to cathedrals road
to beat the fire front, yeah?
- Don't.
It's bad enough having him lie to me.
I don't want you backing him up.
Call your husband!
Listen, whatever your
bullshit excuse is,
you took the newest
member of our brigade
out in the most dangerous
situation that I can imagine!
I still don't understand
why you're not dead!
- Mate, lil did an emergency back burn.
Best one I ever saw.
Three flanks, with a homemade drippy.
That's god's truth.
- Perry, it's lil.
- You're all right?
- I'm safe.
- It's great to hear your voice.
Do you want me to come
out there and get you?
- Well, no, I haven't
finished the shift yet.
I've still got 10 ks
to back burn, so um,
I promise I'll be home
before dark, all right?
- Okay, see you tonight.
- This might be them.
- Yeah, it looks like them.
- Why did you go in there?
- Had to be done, and I was available.
Just get the rest of my stuff.
- Perry.
- Backa.
- Kieran.
- Hey, thanks for the backup, eris.
Sector went well.
- It seemed to do the trick.
- You weren't tempted to let it burn
all the way to the police roadblock?
- No comment.
- Hi.
- See ya.
- Come on, sweetheart.
- Backa.
- Thanks, dunwitty.
- Thanks,
Steve, here take these.
- Sorry, Kieran.
- Great stop burn, eh?
- Seen worse.
- Thanks, Phil.
- I'm sorry about today, mate.
It was my cock up.
- Don't worry about it.
You know what the old
man would've said?
- What?
- I don't know, but it
would've been good.
He would've made you
laugh, so you felt better.
It would've stuck in your mind,
so you didn't do it again.
- You gonna give yourself a break
when all this is over?
- Talk to me when it's over.
- Talk to you, eh?
That's a big ask.
- Evening, boys, heard you
had a bit of a back burn.
- That was a fantastic burn.
Chopper reports are the cathedrals
fire's been stopped dead.
- Well, one day I'm gonna go, eh?
- Well, I don't have to
ask how the troops are.
You did well. - Yeah.
- Are they ready for tomorrow?
- Yeah, they are, yeah.
And thanks for backing
me up with Bryce, eh?
- I had every confidence
in you, didn't I?
- Two lost volunteers, eh?
- Did you get to the bottom of that?
- Campers.
They went to rescue some campers.
- You gonna put that in your report?
- Oy, we're watchin' that!
- That yard out there is a mess!
There's a fire on the way,
and you two have done nothing!
- I'm buggered!
We'll do it tomorrow. - No, now!
Or I'll set fire to the
bloody thing myself.
- Just a sec.
- Oh, god, this room stinks!
- Mosquito coils.
- Yeah, yeah, I can see that.
- I was being eaten alive!
- Yeah, but we need to be
able to breathe, baby.
- I don't want to smell fires.
- Hey, things are looking better.
We had a good burn today.
Guys did a great job.
- That's good.
- Really came together in the end.
- Well, don't do anything.
Just, you're exhausted.
Go and sit down.
- Well, probably have to have a shower.
- Yeah, just dump your
clothes in the floor.
I'll wash them.
- Smell the smoke?
- We're safe, fire's moving
with the south westerly.
It'll come up the other side of town.
- Oh.
- Won't burn again.
It's different this time.
- Yeah, you're reassuring me.
- We all change.
I'm not gonna come to you for comfort.
- That's good.
- And if we survive this,
I'm never gonna need you like I did.
If I break up this marriage,
I'm not gonna ask you to hold my hand.
- Careful what you wish for.
- Maybe.
♪ We're chasin' ♪
♪ a beautiful rainbow ♪
♪ our story ♪
♪ hasn't been told ♪
♪ it takes rain ♪
♪ to make a rainbow ♪
♪ takes a sun dying ♪
♪ to turn the world gold ♪
♪ the days run ♪
♪ outside my window ♪
♪ like wild horses ♪
♪ across the plains ♪
♪ fireflies ♪
♪ dance in the shadows ♪
♪ love don't shine steady ♪
♪ it waxes and wanes ♪
Janine just called.
- Oh, of course she did!
- Oh, here we go.
Ah!
- You make me sick, Perry!
Hi, you've phoned lil.
Perry lives somewhere else.
- Fire comm!
We're between two fronts on tousa road.
One fire's moving faster than we can.
- Fire
comm to tousa captain.
Section 44, I want all crews out.
- Negative on that back burn.
Not until we get permission.
- No can do, backa.
- When that south westerly hits,
the fire is gonna head
directly for lost river, Fifi.
- Unless you want to be
taken off the fire gun,
you will do as you're told!
You understand, lost river 1?
Fire comm clear!
- You okay, fif?
- Yeah. No.
Bryce lost his house today.
- Stay away from my wife.
- You got the wrong idea, mate.
- I know what you're doing, mate.
I won't tell you again.
Stay away from my wife.
- Backa, if I were you,
I'd keep my eye on her.
You need to protect her.
She's her own worst enemy.
♪ I have to pinch myself to feel ♪
♪ if what is going on is real ♪
♪ from the gods themselves we steal ♪
♪ night and day ♪
♪ night and day ♪
♪ a jug of wine, a loaf
of bread, and thee ♪
♪ lyin' on a blanket underneath
that big ol' spreadin' tree ♪
♪ it's such a beautiful feeling ♪
♪ it's such a beautiful feeling ♪
- The fires have all joined up here,
and the north westerlies are
pushing them towards fox cove.
- So what about us?
- We'll have to wait and see.
- What's the chance of it
getting into deep creek?
- Well, after what I saw
today, anything's possible.
- Don't even think about it.
- We're doing it!
We gotta harvest before it burns down.
- The fire probably won't
even make it to deep creek.
- Well, then what's the
harm in harvesting?
- Because they won't be ready!
It's not worth the risk
until the buds come out.
What's this?
God, I'm good!
No, we can't.
The roads will be crawling
with cops and firetrucks.
- Oh, great!
Well, this is goodbye, then, yeah?
Bank and val will divide the house.
Me and backa divide the kids.
Jeff will give me money
to go to Canada.
- Hi, Mike.
- Been shooting lately?
Out near deep creek?
- Don't have to go that
far to get a snake.
They seem to pop up all over the place.
- What about a bit of hobby farming?
- Mike, can I have a word with you?
- I will lose everything.
Everything!
- Secateurs.
Some drinking water.
Some sports bags, all different types.
Innocent-looking ones.
- How does a bag look guilty?
- Hmm.
- So basically, I think we
just hang out where we are
and wait for the next report.
- G'day, boss!
Sorry I'm late.
- Yeah, I just got here, myself.
Took the long way 'round
and had a reckie.
It looks bigger than '83.
- Oh, come on, Donna,
you don't remember '83.
- Everyone remembers '83.
You know I'm not here
to tread on your toes.
It's your station, your town.
I'll be relying on you for advice.
- Yeah, right, while I'm here.
I mean, you're about to
send us out, aren't you?
Shall we?
- I'm the divisional commander
for the lost river Ford staging area.
We've established a div comm here
because a south westerly is forecast.
It'll drive the fire towards us.
The front's expected
on the eastern side
of the village by tomorrow morning.
Our job is to prepare the town.
There's a lot of bush and
quite a few homesteads
between the fire and us.
If it advances, we'll be doing
property protection by this afternoon.
Tim Burke, the local captain,
has another concern.
Backa?
- Uh, this south westerly
could send spot fires
in cathedral's nature reserve.
It's tough country.
A fire in there would burn
to deep creek by tonight.
That would mean a second fire front
arriving on the West Side of lost river
at the same time as the main
front arrives from the east.
- I'll get you blokes to head
down to the muster area.
You'll get maps and sectors and
start cutting fire trails.
I'll send some of the losties down
to help you with directions.
- Yeah, if you're lucky, we'll
send you the pretty ones.
- We've gotta make the place fire safe.
We've gotta clear the gutters out,
we've gotta move that
wood away from the house,
check the pump.
- I've gotta go into town.
- Why?
- The health department has seconded me
to the section 44 evacuation team.
It's gonna be me and
the ladies of the cwa.
- What are you gonna tell them?
- Walked into a door.
- Can't you just say that you were
working on the house and
a beam fell down and
the weight of the wheelbarrow...
- yeah, whatever you want.
- You betrayed me,
and I'm the one that's
treated like shit.
You promised me a baby, Perry.
That was our dream.
- And what about the rest of the dream?
What about our home, our
life, our marriage?
If all you wanted was a baby,
you could've gone to a sperm bank
and saved us both the grief.
- I don't want us to be at
each other's throats here!
I want us to...
- I'm not at your throat.
- A truce.
- No you don't.
You want comfort.
You're feeling lonely
and a bit insecure,
and you want me to tell you
everything's gonna be all right.
Well, I'm not gonna do that.
- Perry, there's a fire com...
- every time we put a band-aid on this,
the wound has festered over.
Well, not anymore.
I'm not gonna hold your hand while you
rip our marriage apart.
If you want to do it, you'll
have to do it on your own.
- Ah, did you miss us?
Or did they stop you at the border?
- Didn't you like Ellie?
- I loved it!
I'm just back for my bike
and my girl, all right,
and then I'm hittin' the road.
- I couldn't temp you
with a fair day's work
for a bloody good day's pay?
- Bike, girl, paradise.
- You see, mate, we're under
a bit of time pressure.
And me and svettie, we
could use the extra...
- Kieran!
Ah!
What've you eaten?
You look half starved!
- I'll give you a hand
with the harvesting.
I doubt what you're offering to Kieran.
- Sharpie!
Are you out of your mind?
There's a bloody great
bush fire out there!
- It's miles away!
- Backa says it won't reach
deep creek 'til tonight.
- It's a bush fire, svettie.
They don't go by the rules.
- I don't have a choice!
- You always have a choice.
- Ah, come on!
Time is money here, people!
- Big fire?
- Section 44.
- Jesus, ma!
This place is a disaster area!
There's dry grass up to the bush.
There's a pile of wood
up against the fence.
Hasn't fif said anything?
- Haven't seen her.
- Idiot!
- Ugh!
- Ooh, this is fun!
- Listen, you couldn't
stay for a bit, could ya'?
Slash the grass?
Give me a hand with the gutters?
- You'd reckon between Hank and sharpie!
Bike, girl, paradise.
- Come on!
- Jesus!
- Three spot fires in the cathedrals.
- One confirmed at map
reference 3-6-1-1-1-4.
Unconfirmed columns of smoke
to the north and east,
awaiting further intelligence.
- Okay, well if we set up sectors there
and there along cathedrals road
and back burn in towards
the spires and north elm,
we can cut it off before
the south westerly
blows it in to deep creek.
- Aren't we waiting for
further intelligence, backa?
Or did I mishear, mate?
- The situation's still unclear.
- Clear to me.
Any fire, in any direction,
can be attacked from cathedrals road.
You've been in there, come on!
- Many times.
'83, '89 when the hazard
reduction went wrong.
The north elm fire?
You remember that.
- Bryce is onto it.
- Bryce has priorities!
He's trying to protect fox cove!
This...
- What? What's wrong?
- Nothing, absolutely nothing.
The sexy little beasts
are full of buds!
I don't know who you
prayed to, Svetlana,
but it worked!
Hey, a little bit of reverence.
Right, grab a bag and some secateurs.
We're harvesting buds.
Buds and tips.
When you finish with
a plant, dig it up.
We'll come back some
night and pick 'em up
after the fire's been through.
- Hey, sharpie, how much
do you think it's worth?
- This plot alone,
Svetlana, will save you.
Save you and then some!
- Are we not leaving the other plots?
- No, no, Hank can start
on the ones further down.
- Oh, yeah, and what's my share?
- Wages, mate.
Unskilled labor.
- And what do I
get for keeping quiet?
- You get to keep your balls.
- Yeah, yeah, I know
what happened in '93,
but I still need a crew for here.
Right.
Yep, right.
Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
Okay, see ya', mate.
- Maybe, maybe, maybe, no,
uncontactable, maybe.
Gee, you're doing well.
- Half reckon they're about to burn,
and they're out securing stock.
The other half reckon it's gonna
get stopped at the river.
- What, like it did in '93?
- Right, and the other half reckon
that they're not gonna
pick up the phones
because of the lightning last night.
- I'm glad you're doing the counting.
- Mmm, this town is daft.
- What's the latest from fire comm?
- Crews are being
peeled off from tousa.
Bryce thinks that'll
handle the spot fires.
- Well, what do you think?
- Even if I send you
out as sector leader,
it'll be with strike
team crews, not locals.
- Why?
- You haven't got enough losties
to crew both your trucks,
and the ones you have got are bullshit.
Your brigade's looking dysfunctional.
- The incident management team
set up an evacuation team.
I'm getting the farmers
out of caron gullah.
- What?
Oh, for keg-headed
shit-for-brains, that...
Donna!
- What's up?
- This jerk want to
evacuate caron gullah.
- I've got orders, mate.
Lea con.
- It'll be a misunderstanding.
I'll talk to Bryce.
- Backa, look if this is personal...
- Mike, what are you talking about?
There's nothing personal
about evacuations!
- Look at me, mate.
As if I'm gonna pull your missus.
- That's a pretty good line, mate.
How many husbands you use that one on?
There's a fire coming.
How 'bout you put it away
for a couple of days, huh?
- Okay, boys, we can all play nice now.
Bryce suggested relocation
of the elderly and infirm.
Lea con assumed he meant evacuation.
- Yeah, well, assumptions are
the mother of all stuff-ups.
- Hey, how long have you known
that he's been sniffing around svettie?
- Yesterday!
She told me yesterday.
- But do you know, he's been busy.
- I had no idea.
- You see, I would've bet the
farm that it was trev arkley,
but he moved to towamba,
or there's other
problems out of the way.
And you would've told me, wouldn't you?
If you knew that Mike
was trying something?
Yeah?
- It's okay.
- What about you, love?
Would you have told me if
he was giving you the eye?
- I love you.
- I'm gonna kill him.
I'm gonna find that bag of pork.
I'm gonna cut him open.
It's a south westerly.
- Hey, you hear that?
- Chopper.
- On it's way
to ingram, to a fire.
- It might be surveillance,
looking out for spot fires.
- Can you check the scanner?
Find out what's going on?
- The scanner's Fifi's.
She took it back.
- At least turn the
radio up to the news.
- 'Cept we're glued to the station.
Sharpie's version of child-proofing.
- Yeah.
- Hey, when are you gonna
stop for a smoke, huh?
- I don't smoke.
It's bad for you.
- Yeah, right.
- How much of it now?
- Two more bags like this,
and you've paid off your debt.
- We'll be here all day.
- Then keep pickin'.
- Oh, mena, I've been seconded
to the evacuation team.
- Oh, good man!
I was pleased when Lou suggested you.
- I was working on the house,
and a beam came down and...
- none of my business.
I've got the accommodation
thing under control.
Beds, blankets, food.
Docs have sent me all the paperwork.
Would you go down to the fire station,
find out which areas are
potentially threatened?
Phone the homes, suggest
that they should relocate
the elderly, the infirm,
children, anyone likely
to be spooked by the fire?
- Mm, and then do I
come back here, or...
- Well, you're welcome
back here, of course,
but I don't mind if you just
find a private spot somewhere
and call the numbers in to me.
- Mm.
- I'll need you back here,
of course, when the evacuees come in.
You'll be their contact person,
and some of them are
gonna need counseling.
Perry, I don't want you to think
I'm teaching you to suck eggs.
- Go on.
- Well, bush fires can bring
out the best in people,
but they can also bring out the worst.
- That's true of most things.
- Yeah, well, in a
little place like this,
if a fault line appears,
we can crack along it.
You look surprised.
- Yeah, I shouldn't be, should I?
- Well, I'm just pleased
that we've got a professional around,
someone who understands trauma.
- Thanks.
- Ah, Perry?
My husband never listens
the first time, either.
- Hey, noodle! Noodle!
Oh, right hook!
Bit of a king hit!
- I was working on the
house, and beam fell down
and the weight of the
wheelbarrow pushed me into it.
- Ah, right, yeah.
No wonder Hank says you're smart.
- Hmm.
- You're back.
- Came to get you.
And the bike, but mainly you.
It's fantastic up there!
I've got a job at a
resort and my own room,
and you'll love it!
- You want me to go to Ellie beach?
With you? On that?
And do what?
- I don't know, go to school?
I could get you a job.
- A job?
Great! Mum'll be stoked!
I'll tell her all about it when
we go and pick up my bikini.
Or is that too much
to carry on the bike?
- God, noodle.
It'll be fun; You'll love it.
- True words.
As if.
Can't believe he wants
me to leave home.
- Put a band-aid on it?
We've put bloody band-AIDS on.
Bloody oh.
Why'd you say you do it anyway, Perry?
I'll do it myself, anyway.
Get up!
Get up there!
But his own bloody house.
Ugh!
- Choppers have identified
more spot fires.
They have the south
westerly behind them.
You were right, let's call Bryce.
- Fire comm I.C.
- Bryce, it's backa.
I'm going to put you on speaker.
- Fine, backa.
- I'm requesting to be sent
out to the cathedrals.
I know ingram is the big one,
but if we have to fight
on two fronts tomorrow,
I'm not sure we can save the village.
- I've got crews
in the cathedrals.
They're dealing with the spot fires.
- I know the terrain, Bryce!
There's no way they'll
get to those spotties!
They'll be forced out,
the fires will join up,
and they'll head this way!
I've been back burning the cathedrals
since my old man was the captain.
I know how to stop the fires!
- Let me speak
to lost river div comm.
- Bryce, it's Donna.
I want to send him out.
- How are you gonna do it?
- Joey and backa will
each lead a strike team
and back burn the cathedrals road.
- Your call.
- A strike team?
- Your brigade's not up to it.
- This time tomorrow,
my brigade is gonna be
fighting to save the village!
I need to get them out
there, working as a unit.
It's the only way we can
stop 'em fracturing.
- Where are they, backa?
Ben? - Yeah.
- Can you get Mike down here
so I can talk to him about roadblocks?
- Onto it.
- Up here.
- What are you doing?
Catching a sea breeze?
- Thought I'd do a rain dance.
Heard the farmers are screaming
out for it.
- Backa says he wants
you to talk to him.
Convince him you aren't off the air.
Yeah, better take the broom, yeah.
- Kieran, what are you doing?
- What?
- Comin' to the station?
- Nah.
- Backa's calling every man
and his three-legged dog.
- I already handed my pager in.
- Well, the fire's just not at ingram.
There's spotties in the cathedrals.
They join up, it's
gonna burn deep creek.
And your bike.
- Well, that's your
debt to val paid off,
give or take a spliff.
Let's call it a day, eh?
- No way!
This is my one chance to dig
myself out of this bloody mess.
I'm not gonna let it go up in smoke.
- Um, it's meant to go
up in smoke, svet, eh?
That's what it's for, eh?
Hey, do you smell smoke? - No.
- I smell it.
- It's from ingram.
- Pig's ass.
- I'm giving you crews from kellyville,
balkum hills, and Duffy's forest.
- What happened to the other bloke?
- I was working on the house,
and a beam fell down...
- I'll send the upper hunter's
strike teams with Joey.
- I need some information.
I'm handling the relocations.
- Yeah, talk to patto.
Uh, eris, where's patto?
- Don't know.
- Ah, great!
Lily ingle, Donna Bruce,
group captain from glenville
and queen of the spinning wheel.
- Oh, should I curtsy?
- Are you ambitious?
- How you feelin'?
- Top o' the world!
- Well, that's three more losties.
- Two, Joey's leading sector bravo.
- Hey, heard you's having a fire,
so I brought some mates along.
- On here, patto.
- Patto!
- You've got your crew,
so I'll assign three more
district crews to make up your sector.
- Good.
- Someone give you that, or did
you have to fight for her?
- Hey, I need your help.
- Mike.
How are you, mate?
- Yeah, good, mate, good.
- Oink, oink! Oink, oink!
Oink, oink!
- Cut it! Cut it!
All of you!
We need roadblocks, Mike.
Uh, cathedrals road, deep creek
road, caron gullah road.
What do you reckon?
- I have no orders.
- Well, Bryce has cleared
it with lea comm.
They'll handle it from there.
- Yep, ta.
- I saw this happening.
- Okay, people, let's get organized.
- Eris!
I need you, mate!
Look, if you don't cut this crap out,
I will not send you out.
- Don't blame me!
I didn't tell them to make
stupid pig noises, did I?
- There is only one way
that you could get those
firies to treat another
service with such disrespect.
- Disrespect?
After what he did to me?
- You told them that he was with her
while you were in the
burn over, didn't you?
I thought you'd forgiven her?
- I have forgiven her!
- Then why did you humiliate
her all over again?
Luisa, you're on Dave's crew.
- Thanks, backa.
- Oh, oh, we're too late!
By the time we get the
back burn started,
they'll be jumping the road.
We gotta fall back to deep creek.
- Or you could go down south.
And that'd get the wind
behind the back burn.
My sector could clear
a line from the road
and some of these spotties...
- do you have to disagree
with everything I say?
- Oh, excuse me.
Sector leader bravo to
sector leader Alpha,
permission to speak, sir.
- Just cut the bullshit, Joey.
- And sector leader bravo suggests
chain of command places him under the
divisional commander,
not lost river captain.
- Hey, backa, I reckon Joe's right.
I don't think we need
to burn deep creek.
- Nobody's asking you, Kieran.
- Lost river div comm, this
is lost river captain, blue?
- Yeah, thanks,
yeah, I'll hold.
- Lost river captain, go ahead.
- The fire's twice as big
and three times as fast
the chopper report.
It's in north elm.
This bar is pretty well alight.
It couldn't be more than a couple of ks
from the road in some places.
- Do you require backup?
- No, not here.
We need to fall back to deep creek.
If we use the creek as
a containment line,
we can burn the full
10 ks from deep creek
up to cathedrals road.
- I'll talk to Bryce.
Lost river div comm, clear.
- Lost river div comm,
this is sector leader bravo, blue?
- Sector leader
bravo, go ahead.
- Yeah, even a small burn from the road
could stop the main fire front
from spottin' into deep creek.
- Yeah, thanks, Joey.
I'll run that by Bryce.
Lost river div comm, clear.
- Lost river div comm to sector
leaders Alpha and bravo.
Fall back to deep creek.
- Lost river div comm, this
is lost river captain, blue?
Copy that.
I suggest sector Alpha to the north,
sector bravo to the south.
- Sounds fine to me.
Lost river div comm, clear.
- I's thinking that I'd
start the burn at the top,
burn up a k, then start the next burn
about a k south of that.
- Sounds like a plan.
- That way any embers driven
by the south westerly
would end up falling
in parts that we've
already back burned.
- Yeah, I get it, backa.
- So what happens now?
- We back burn deep creek.
- Are we burning this gully here?
- Uh, yeah, no, that'll be the
top of Joe's burn at 12:45.
I've marked up the map
with my areas of the burn.
Give that to Joey, tell
him to call Donna.
Take the pc.
Lil, you can drive.
- I'll be all right by myself.
- Kieran, nobody goes into
fire ground by themselves.
You gonna be between two back burns.
Stay together at all times.
Use your radio to check in.
I want to know where you are.
- Yes, ma'am.
- How 'bout a little keep, love?
- Yeah, sure.
- Sharpie!
Svettie!
Hank!
- It's time to head out now, Svetlana.
That fire's the real thing.
- That's miles away.
We'd hear it coming.
- Yeah, just before we fried.
- Look, you've got enough
there to pay off val
and have the same again.
- That's not enough!
I need to get out from under Jeff.
- A bird in the hand, Svetlana.
This is the best smoke-o
this side of the divide.
- I don't care about smoke-o!
I care about saving my family.
- Enough's enough.
- Yeah?
- Yeah!
You're not gonna be any
good to your family
lying like a barbecued
chook in the middle of
sharpie's special herbs and spices!
- We're staying here.
- Suit yourselves.
- Look, she's not like you, sharpie.
She wants a better life for her kids.
You want us to roll around
in the same shit you do.
- You had me worried there.
I thought you were serious for a sec.
You been rollin' around
in your own shit
as long as I can remember!
- Well, I'm not going.
I'm finishing the harvest.
- Well, that's just fine, Svetlana!
Hank!
I'm gonna take a run up
to the cathedral lookout!
See exactly where this fire is.
Be ready the second I get back!
- Okay!
- Yeah, Benny, keep the line
going around here, mate.
- Yeah, got it.
- Gary, could you check
the line down the back, mate?
- Yeah, I got that.
- A bit further
down that way, mate.
- Okay, mate.
- Joey, what are you doing?
You weren't meant to start
your back burn until 12:45!
- 12:00, div comm said the
back burn commenced at 12:00.
- Joey, that was backa's sector, Alpha!
He wanted to be near finished
so your embers wouldn't
start spotties behind him.
- Well, if I'd known
that five minutes ago...
- Ah!
- I could've put it out!
There's no way we can stop it now!
- Backa's plan.
Five minutes out of date.
- Ah! I'll call him.
- Sector Alpha, this is sector bravo.
Backa, I have stuffed up!
- Joey, backa here.
We're waiting.
What's the problem?
- I got the times wrong.
I started the fire at 12:00.
It's gone too far now,
I cannot stop it.
- All right,
well, can't be helped.
You continue with your burn.
We'll move a couple of ks further south
and meet your burn halfway.
- Sorry, mate.
Div comm said 12:00.
I assumed that meant the both of us.
- Joey, it's done now.
Uh, I'll call you when
we start our burn.
- Lil, can you pull over?
- Again?
Is there something
you're not telling me?
- It's sharpie.
Look, sharpie, and svettie, and Hank,
they're at the bottom of that valley
harvesting a crop.
- Right.
We gotta call backa.
- No, you can't!
He'll kill her, he'll
absolutely lose it,
and he'll kill her.
Look, it's five minutes, lil.
It's five minutes from the
end of the fire trail
to the bottom of the Ridge.
Once they're out, we can call
every crew in the state.
It's five minutes.
- All right, first whiff
of smoke, we call backa.
All right, deal? - Deal.
- So how much do you need?
- A lot.
- You know sharpie's not gonna get
the greatest price for it.
Oh, he won't shoot ya,
but you know, there'll be this bloke
who he owes a favor to,
another one who always
gets a buy off discount,
another one he owes a bit
because last year's crop
was a bit light on.
How can you grow these
crops, year after year,
and never have any money?
Whatever price he's offered you,
I can get you at least half again.
- Hm, but how long will it take?
- Third up front?
Time again for the next two months?
We split the difference.
Whatever I earn you
above sharpie's price
we split 50-50.
- You're a bad boy.
- Hey, svet?
- Hmm?
- Stop for a bit.
Look at the smoke.
- I don't need to look, I can smell.
- It's not just coming
from the cathedrals.
It's coming over that Ridge.
- Can't be.
Well, it's only smoke.
He will come back, he didn't run away?
- Sharpie? No way!
- What if he can't get back?
Can't really see where
it's coming from.
- Don't worry, he'll be back.
We'll be fine.
And if he's not, just breathe in.
Must be worse ways to go.
- Two, three...
- Sharpie!
- It's no good, we have to go down.
- They can't be still down there.
They can't be that stupid.
- Lil, you can see the fire
coming from the cathedrals.
Backa told svettie it wouldn't
be here 'til late afternoon.
- They'd have smelled it!
- Yeah, and decided it's miles away.
- All right, we'll go down.
- Hank! Svettie!
You've gotta get out of here!
- Oy, felt like a smoke, did ya?
- Where's dad?
- He went up to cathedral
lookout to check out the fires.
- It's not coming from the cathedrals.
We're in the middle of
two back burns here.
It's gonna come down at
us from both ridges.
- Does backa know we're here?
- Not yet, no.
- You can't tell him!
- Svettie, you're in danger!
See that smoke on the top of the Ridge?
That's the top of Joey's burn.
There's a south westerly behind it.
It'll be here in 10 minutes!
- Well, then we'll
start walking north.
Sharpie can pick us up on the way.
- No, no, backa's already
started his burn.
It could be anywhere
between here and the road.
The only safe way out is up that Ridge
and to the pc.
- Right.
- No, you can't take that!
We have to run up that hill.
- No, I'm not going.
- Then I'm gonna call backa,
tell him to stop the burn...
- no, no!
- And send in another crew.
- No, you're not callin' no one.
Now, give us a hand.
- You idiot!
- Ah!
- That radio's our lifeline!
Do you care? Get off!
- Fire's on the Ridge!
- I hope you burn, you
miserable, skanky bastard!
I hope you burn.
- Kieran, it's too late.
- Can't get out.
- Can't we go to the cathedrals road?
- What's that fire trail like?
- Stuffed, overgrown, out of use.
That's why sharpie chose it.
- Then it's a death trap.
We get caught in that,
nothing can save us.
- Nothing's gonna save us here, either.
- I'm sorry.
- Kieran, we're not dead yet.
- Kieran, it's backa here.
Can you respond?
Lil, are you there?
Lil?
Joey?
Come in, Joey?
- Here, backa.
- Joey, lil and Kieran
haven't come back yet.
I can't raise 'em on the radio.
Could you send a vehicle
down to check the road?
Make sure they haven't
got stuck somewhere?
- Yeah, sure thing, mate.
- Hey, lil, there's spotties
coming from the cathedral.
- All right, so we're gonna
put in a back burn all right?
We're gonna fight fire with fire.
Our burn will go up that Ridge,
faster than the fire can come down.
So we need drip torches.
Get some banks for your
head and some sticks.
Whack 'em together.
Get all this stuff out.
We'll move backwards and outwards.
Anything that will burn, all right?
Get it out!
- Lil?
- All right.
All right, I'll start the
first one to the left.
You light the right flank.
All right, Kieran?
- Yeah.
- Keep an eye out for embers.
That Ridge fire's getting closer.
- Yeah, right on, lil.
- Yep, left-hand containment's alight.
Move back to the clearing.
- Hey, noodle, what's up?
- I'm looking for Kieran sharp.
His bike is outside.
- He's out on cat one.
He won't be back until
the end of the day.
- I'll wait.
- Lost river div comm,
this is sector leader Alpha, red.
- Sector leader Alpha, go ahead.
- We have two lost firefighters.
Repeat, we have two
firefighters missing
on the deep creek road,
halfway between sector Alpha back burn
and the sector bravo back burn.
Barrier's ablaze.
Situation's highly dangerous.
- Do you have an ID
on the firefighters?
- Kieran sharp and Lily ingle.
- I'll organize a chopper
to do an aerial search.
Do you want backup?
- Negative, Donna, no time.
I'm gonna take eris off the ground,
put him in charge of the sector,
and I'm gonna take a crew down
in the cat one and check
every fire trail.
- I want to go out there.
- You sit down by that
phone and don't move.
This stuff happens all the time.
- Lil, those trees off to
the right have caught.
- All right, it'll come
towards us slowly.
Just try and shovel it out
as it reaches the clearing, all right?
- Embers!
- Slap 'em out!
Stamp 'em out.
Don't let 'em catch.
Ooh, look at that fire trail go up.
- Let's hope sharpie's having a smoke
at cathedrals lookout and
not stuck on that trail.
- All right, is everybody ready?
- Yes.
- Yep.
- This fire could easily
blow back onto us, okay?
- Ah, spotty! Spotty!
- Lost river div comm, this is
lost river captain, yellow.
- Lost river captain, go ahead.
- Yeah, we've located their vehicle
at the end of a fire trail.
There's no one in it.
- Kieran!
Lil!
- Kieran!
- Kieran!
Lil!
- It's topped the Ridge.
- You're amazing, you know that?
Completely, mind-blowingly, amazing!
- Hank! Svetlana!
Are you all right?
- Hey, we're all right.
- Thank you! Thank you!
I thought I'd killed 'em.
- Cat seven just went by.
Still no sign.
- Backa!
- Lost river div comm,
lost river captain, blue.
- Lost river captain, go ahead.
- They're safe.
They're safe, they're
walking towards me.
- Thank god!
- I'll call off the troops.
And backa?
Tell Lily ingle her husband's here.
Lost river div comm, clear.
- Perry's at the station.
You guy's all right?
- Yeah, good.
- So what happened?
- Well, I stopped for a piss,
and saw some campers down at
the bottom of the valley.
- Campers?
There's been a fire in
the district for days!
- Yeah, I know, well,
they weren't that bright.
- Why didn't you call us on the radio?
- Well, I lost it.
- Then you should've driven
out and got someone.
- Well, I couldn't, there was no time.
I mean, it was five minutes
to the bottom of the Ridge,
and then if they hadn't insisted
that we take their stuff,
we could've been out of there
before the fire reached us.
- Stuff?
Where are these campers at the moment?
- Well, they went out
to cathedrals road
to beat the fire front, yeah?
- Don't.
It's bad enough having him lie to me.
I don't want you backing him up.
Call your husband!
Listen, whatever your
bullshit excuse is,
you took the newest
member of our brigade
out in the most dangerous
situation that I can imagine!
I still don't understand
why you're not dead!
- Mate, lil did an emergency back burn.
Best one I ever saw.
Three flanks, with a homemade drippy.
That's god's truth.
- Perry, it's lil.
- You're all right?
- I'm safe.
- It's great to hear your voice.
Do you want me to come
out there and get you?
- Well, no, I haven't
finished the shift yet.
I've still got 10 ks
to back burn, so um,
I promise I'll be home
before dark, all right?
- Okay, see you tonight.
- This might be them.
- Yeah, it looks like them.
- Why did you go in there?
- Had to be done, and I was available.
Just get the rest of my stuff.
- Perry.
- Backa.
- Kieran.
- Hey, thanks for the backup, eris.
Sector went well.
- It seemed to do the trick.
- You weren't tempted to let it burn
all the way to the police roadblock?
- No comment.
- Hi.
- See ya.
- Come on, sweetheart.
- Backa.
- Thanks, dunwitty.
- Thanks,
Steve, here take these.
- Sorry, Kieran.
- Great stop burn, eh?
- Seen worse.
- Thanks, Phil.
- I'm sorry about today, mate.
It was my cock up.
- Don't worry about it.
You know what the old
man would've said?
- What?
- I don't know, but it
would've been good.
He would've made you
laugh, so you felt better.
It would've stuck in your mind,
so you didn't do it again.
- You gonna give yourself a break
when all this is over?
- Talk to me when it's over.
- Talk to you, eh?
That's a big ask.
- Evening, boys, heard you
had a bit of a back burn.
- That was a fantastic burn.
Chopper reports are the cathedrals
fire's been stopped dead.
- Well, one day I'm gonna go, eh?
- Well, I don't have to
ask how the troops are.
You did well. - Yeah.
- Are they ready for tomorrow?
- Yeah, they are, yeah.
And thanks for backing
me up with Bryce, eh?
- I had every confidence
in you, didn't I?
- Two lost volunteers, eh?
- Did you get to the bottom of that?
- Campers.
They went to rescue some campers.
- You gonna put that in your report?
- Oy, we're watchin' that!
- That yard out there is a mess!
There's a fire on the way,
and you two have done nothing!
- I'm buggered!
We'll do it tomorrow. - No, now!
Or I'll set fire to the
bloody thing myself.
- Just a sec.
- Oh, god, this room stinks!
- Mosquito coils.
- Yeah, yeah, I can see that.
- I was being eaten alive!
- Yeah, but we need to be
able to breathe, baby.
- I don't want to smell fires.
- Hey, things are looking better.
We had a good burn today.
Guys did a great job.
- That's good.
- Really came together in the end.
- Well, don't do anything.
Just, you're exhausted.
Go and sit down.
- Well, probably have to have a shower.
- Yeah, just dump your
clothes in the floor.
I'll wash them.
- Smell the smoke?
- We're safe, fire's moving
with the south westerly.
It'll come up the other side of town.
- Oh.
- Won't burn again.
It's different this time.
- Yeah, you're reassuring me.
- We all change.
I'm not gonna come to you for comfort.
- That's good.
- And if we survive this,
I'm never gonna need you like I did.
If I break up this marriage,
I'm not gonna ask you to hold my hand.
- Careful what you wish for.
- Maybe.
♪ We're chasin' ♪
♪ a beautiful rainbow ♪
♪ our story ♪
♪ hasn't been told ♪
♪ it takes rain ♪
♪ to make a rainbow ♪
♪ takes a sun dying ♪
♪ to turn the world gold ♪
♪ the days run ♪
♪ outside my window ♪
♪ like wild horses ♪
♪ across the plains ♪
♪ fireflies ♪
♪ dance in the shadows ♪
♪ love don't shine steady ♪
♪ it waxes and wanes ♪