Welcome back, 
Glad the Holiday went ok for you even if it was damn hot, were you close to any of the Fires ??
Yes, but not while I was there, thankfully. One of the biggest fires in the region occurred around the 28th July near my in-laws' village. It started in the hills to the West. At the time the wind was blowing it away from the village, but a change of direction and increase in wind speed brought the fire down the hill and everything burned ferociously. Many animals were lost in their pens, unable to be reached (the locals said that was the worst part, I'll spare you the details). A spark flew over the top of the largely volunteer firefighters, threatening to encircle them and bringing the fire ever closer to the village. At last, three helicopters arrived and put the blaze out using water scooped from the nearby River Varda. On Monday night I took a stroll down to the end of the village and saw damage up to about 50 meters of the first house. A traumatic experience for all of the local population, but they just seem to accept it as just one of those things that sometimes happens.