The Saint: Fire season is a risky business in Lithgow

And while warnings of a looming horror bushfire season sort of lose their impact when we get the same message year after year it really is a warning that needs to be taken seriously.

It could be a matter of life or death.

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In the Christmas period of 2019/20 Greater Lithgow shared in the agony of the worst bushfire season on record. It was the first time on record that residential property around here had been lost in a bushfire. That Summer was one for the record books and the miracles from the past were blotted out in just a couple of days when we lost more than 30 homes.

It was a savage wake up call. And while that was accelerated by the long years of drought that robbed the countryside of all moisture the intervening three years of relative calm must not be allowed to lull us into false security.

So take the warnings - and the omen of a warmer than usual Springtime - seriously and take common sense precautions while you can.

On this note it was of concern that just a few days ago some fool brazenly set two fires in dry grass about 100 metres apart behind the Commercial Hotel and in Gray Street, right next to parked cars. That's not someone we want in our community.

THE sidewalk audience couldn't help but notice work under way again on the old church adjacent to Queen Elizabeth Park. Brave plans to create a restaurant came to an abrupt halt back in 2019 - after obviously a good deal of expenditure - when a nearby water main burst and caused heaps of damage. It was widely reported at the time that Council was denying any responsibility in the flood and the owner was left high and dry. Now our attention has been drawn to the rather extensive new building work under way at the southern end of the landmark site that in a past life was a storage unit for the Bracey store and a display lot for used cars.

IT was the world's richest man, Elon Musk, who started a revolution in electric vehicles, with their occasional unpleasant habit of their lithium batteries bursting into flames. But according to media sources he's also creative playing the name game. His eleventh child has been named Techno Mechanicus, or Tau for short. And if you didn't think that was cruel enough, or perhaps weird enough, his other arrivals in the past three years were named X AE A-12 and Exa Dark Siderael. The Herald reported that Elon is regarded as a 'devoted father'. Some kids do have ém.

STILL on the joys and perils of electric motoring we couldn't miss reports this week that another green machine had one of those lithium battery bad days in the car park at Sydney Airport and took out five cars in a wall of flame that could have easily taken the entire car park. These embarrassing moments must provide food for thought for anyone in the EV car market. Nice to be green. Not so nice being toast. It's for a good reason lithium batteries are banned from airline cargo.

ANOTHER memorable line on social media this week reporting the passing of a billionaire announced he '..passed away aged 80 due to poor health.' Yep, that'll do it every time.