來源：Frances Mao, BBC, 24 DEC, 2019, 原文網址
"We're doing it because it's a passion. It's a brotherhood," says Daniel Knox.
丹尼爾諾克斯說："我們在這奮戰不懈就是因為有熱血、有兄弟們的扶持。"
"When that photo was taken of me, I had done a 15-hour shift out there."
"當我被拍下這張照片的時候，我已經在這值了15小時的班了。"
He is one of thousands of Australians who've dropped their ordinary lives to battle the nation's raging fire crisis.
他是數以千計、放下日常手邊工作來對抗澳洲日益猖獗的野火的其中一人。
For weeks, the 22-year-old landscaper has lived around his phone, springing into action when called upon.
數週來，這個22歲的園丁手機不離身，只要一通電話立即出任務。
He is part of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) which calls itself "the world's largest volunteer firefighting organisation". Its 70,000 members are extensively trained and, except for a few senior staff, mostly unpaid.
他是新南威爾斯州鄉村消防隊的一份子，這個消防隊有"世界最大的義消組織"之稱。為數七萬名訓練精良的成員除少數資深幹部外，大多都屬志願性質。
Mr Knox joined his local brigade in Sydney's south-west five years ago, when he was 17. He bonded with a senior member - Andrew O'Dwyer - over football and photography.
"He took me under his wing, looked after me and helped me out so much. The respect he gave me, a young bloke, even when I made mistakes... he was my brother," he told the BBC.
諾克斯先生在五年前他17歲時，加入了他家鄉的分隊 - 雪梨西南支隊。他與一個資深成員 - 安得魯奧德懷爾在足球與攝影上一拍即合。他告訴BBC說："他教導我、照料我、幫助我許多。即是我只是個年輕小夥、有時也會犯錯，他還是很尊重我，他是我大哥。"
Last Thursday, Mr O'Dwyer and Geoffrey Keaton, the deputy captain at the Horsley Park Fire Brigade, were sent out late at night to a massive firefront.
上週四，奧德懷爾先生與吉佛瑞基頓 - 霍斯利公園消防分隊副隊長，在深夜出勤前往救火。
En route their truck was hit by a falling tree, which caused it to roll. Three firefighters in the back seat were injured but were able to escape.
在途中他們的消防車被倒塌的樹擊中，造成翻車意外。三名位於後座的消防員受傷，但成功脫困。
Mr O'Dwyer and Mr Keaton - both fathers to young children - were killed at the scene. They died five days before Christmas.
奧德懷爾先生與基頓先生 - 都是尚有年幼孩子的父親 - 不幸當場罹難。距離全家團聚的聖誕節僅僅只有五天之遙。
Earlier, bigger, more dangerous fires
更早出現、規模更大、更為凶險的火災
Since September, close to 3,000 firefighters have been out every day in NSW battling blazes the size of small European countries.
九月起，在新南威爾斯州已有接近三千名消防人員每天出勤對抗席捲範圍可達一個小型歐陸國家大小的火災。
Close to 90% of those people on the ground are unpaid volunteers, says the NSW RFS, the government-funded organisation leading the fight.
根據新南威爾斯州鄉村消防隊的說法，這些身處第一線的消防員接近90%都是義務性質，這個由政府出資的組織領導對抗這些火災。
This century-old model is common across Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia - Australian states which have traditionally had bushfires each summer. In recent years, fires have also flared up in Tasmania and sub-tropical Queensland.
In NSW, most of the 2,000 or so brigades are found in country towns and rural centres dotted among eucalyptus bushland. Members are almost always locals, stepping in to save their own communities.
在維多利亞州、南澳、西澳這些區域百年以來的模式就是每年夏天都會有森林大火。近幾年來，在塔司馬尼亞與亞熱帶的昆士蘭也開始出現火勢。在新南威爾斯州，2000多個支隊大多數廣佈在長滿尤加利樹的小鎮與鄉村中。成員也幾乎都是當地人，直接參與保護自己社區的任務。
Historically, the work has tended to be patchy, which has been a key factor behind the volunteerism. Fires don't rage all year round, and there have been years when many areas aren't affected at all.
以往說來，這項工作常是零碎的，這也是這項工作之所以為義務性質的最大原因。火不會整年都在燒，也常有許多地方連續幾年都沒有出現火勢。
But this year, the situation has changed. Intense blazes typically seen in later summer have flared in spring, forcing authorities to wage full-blow campaigns earlier than ever before.
但是今年狀況大有不同。常在夏季快結束才出現的激烈火勢竟在春天就出現，逼的當局得比以往都更早就要得出盡全力著手整治。
They're also dealing with hundreds more fires, burning simultaneously in hotter and drier conditions. NSW has been in drought for years, and fires are ripping through the state.
他們還得對付數百場以上、同時出現在乾燥炎熱之處的火警。新南威爾斯州長久以來就甚為乾燥，而野火正在州內四處肆虐。
The monstrous Gospers Mountain blaze, an hour's drive north-west of Sydney, has spread to more than 450,000 hectares in size in less than a month. Officials now consider it to be potentially one of the largest fires ever recorded in Australia.
最為慘烈一場可說是葛士柏山大火，該處為於雪梨西北車程一小時之處，在不到一個月內火舌吞噬範圍廣達45萬公頃。官方現在認定這可能是澳洲有史以來最大的火災。
'Everyone's working so hard'
每個人都拼盡全力
For weeks, Lucy Baranowski has been among the crews fighting that blaze, and others closer to her home in Kurrajong Heights. She and her partner took leave from their day jobs a few weeks ago - and are currently skating by on savings, credit cards and support from family and friends.
幾週來，在庫拉容高地，路西巴拉諾思基與其他義消隊員，還有其他鄰居們一同對抗火災。她與她的夥伴在幾週前暫時停職 - 現在得依靠存款、信用卡與家人朋友的資助來過活。
She misses her children - she evacuated them to her parents' home over a week ago. On Saturday, her crew helped save a friend's property - a success. But then the wind changed, and the crew could only stand by as the blaze tore through the neighbouring village of Bilpin.
她想念她的孩子們 - 孩子們在一週前被疏散到祖父母家。週六時，她的隊員們幫忙拯救了一個朋友的房子，真是大勝利。然而說時遲那時快，風向一變，隊員們只能乾瞪眼看著烈焰竄燒至鄰近的比爾平鎮。
- A visual guide to Australia's bushfire crisis (視覺化顯示本次澳洲野火危機)
- How do you fight extreme wildfires? (如何對抗極端野火？)
- Why Australia will see a long and dangerous summer (為何澳洲將面臨漫長與危難的夏天)
她告訴BBC：儘管情況危急，但是在她的社區內，他能獲得大家"愛的泡泡"般的全力支援。
Her friends have organised her children's Christmas presents. Others have manned shifts cooking and cleaning for crews at the station. A prolific blogger, her latest posts about her fireground days have gone viral on social media.
她的朋友打點她小孩的聖誕禮物。其他人輪番在消防隊內替隊員們安排飲食與著手清掃。一個多產的部落客寫了有關她打火的點點滴滴就立刻在網路瘋傳。
"So many people aren't making an income but are putting every part of their passion and blood into this campaign - it's really, really rough on a lot of people," she says.
她說："有這麼多人放棄賺錢，而把全副心力、血汗放在這場打火作戰上 - 對很多人來說真的非常艱難。"
She describes the RFS as her family - and in her case this is a literal statement. Out on the fireground she's standing alongside her father and her younger brother, as well her friends, her neighbours, all of them communicating via radio.
他把鄉村消防隊當成是她的大家庭 - 這點絕對是貨真價實。一旦出現火警，她會與她的父親、弟弟，她的朋友與鄰居一同出動。大家就透過無線電互通聲息。
They've been running on adrenalin, but the prospect of a drawn-out summer and a seemingly endless fire front is weighing on all of them.
他們都已經在全速運轉狀態，但看不到盡頭的炎熱夏天與四處竄燒的火勢在在使所有人心頭擔憂。
"You can just hear the fatigue in their voices and almost imagine their dirty, sweaty, ash-covered faces," she says.
她說："只要去聽聽他們疲倦的聲音就幾乎能想像他們髒污、汗水與塵灰布滿的臉龐。"
"Everyone's working so hard to keep everything together but there's no rain forecast, and there's really nothing we can do to stop this fire."
"每個人都在苦撐力求不失，但是遲遲都還等不到下雨，真的已經沒有任何東西我們能用來擋住火災了。"
"It's like do we start to give up hope now that this isn't going to stop?"
就像是我們開始放棄希望，因為這一切看來都不會停止？
News of the firefighters' deaths at Horsley Park, only a 40-minute drive away, "shattered my heart" she says.
聽到只是40分鐘車程外的霍斯利公園消防分隊有人殉職，她說："我的心都碎了。"
"I didn't know them - but that could have been my husband, my father, my uncle, my friend," she said. "After all this is over, we're probably going to fall down in a heap."
"我並不認識他們 - 但這有可能發生在我的丈夫、父親、叔伯與朋友身上。"她說："這樣就完了，我們可能會徹底崩潰吧。"
'What am I doing here?'
我們在這邊幹嘛？
The mammoth, ongoing task has spurred a national conversation about support for firefighters.
這項艱鉅的長期抗戰在澳洲國內已激起對消防員後勤支援問題的廣泛討論。
The Labor opposition, town mayors, and a firefighters' union have called for them to be compensated.
在野的工黨、鄉鎮市長與消防員工會已呼籲應該提供一些福利或酬金。
"They volunteer as much as they can afford, sometimes even more than they can afford. It is not sustainable," says Mick Holton, president of the Volunteer Fire Fighters Association.
義消協會理事長米克霍頓表示："他們這些義消全心全意的犧牲奉獻，但有時已經超過了他們的能力所及了，這樣下去的話是會無以為繼的。"
It often involves long hours, weeks away from paid work, and accruing expenses along the way. Earlier this year, Mr Knox travelled to the town of Tenterfield to help fight blazes there. It was an eight-hour drive from Sydney - he paid for his own petrol.
這裡指的是：長期無法回去做有薪工作，在這期限又得自掏腰包。今年稍早，諾克斯曾到滕特菲爾德鎮支援救火。這距離雪梨有八小時車程 - 這一路上花費也是自掏腰包處理。
- Why Australia's PM is facing anger over bushfires (為何澳洲總理在野火問題上被K的滿頭包)
- How climate change has contributed to bushfires (氣候變遷對野火問題有何影響)
大眾對支援消防員的情緒是有史以來最高的。在現在這個聖誕季，許多商店與餐廳都捐出營利給新南威爾斯州鄉村消防隊。在網路上，也有募款人購買面罩、食物與其他補給品給消防隊員。
However, Australia's government has so far rejected the calls for compensation.
"Now is not the time to go into it. Let's get through this [bushfire crisis] first," said Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday.
然而，目前為止，澳洲政府仍拒絕考慮提供酬金。澳洲總理史考特莫里森在週一表示："現在不是討論這個的時候。先把野火危機搞定是我們的第一優先要務。"
He added: "When people join these organisations, they do it to protect their community and do it out of a sense of great service."
他還說："當大家加入這種組織，心理想的都是要保護自己的家園，以及發揚偉大的做功德的情操。"
That is what many firefighters say - they're not motivated by money. They are reticent to speak up for any sort of handout. They've also been consumed with fighting the fires.
"People don't get it, people think how do you risk your life and not get paid for this stuff?" Mr Knox says.
這也是許多義消說的 - 他們不是為了錢。無論在什麼場合他們也不會拿這個來說嘴。他們也都為救火耗盡所有心力。諾克斯先生說："人們並不明白，人們想說，為何你會願意出生入死卻連薪水都沒有？"
"And yeah, there have been times when I've been in the thick of it, and it's so fierce you can't breathe. And I'm thinking to myself, what am I doing here?"
"是沒錯啦，有好幾次面臨生死交關的時刻，情況危急到你都不能呼吸。我會自問，我到底在這裡幹嘛？"
"But when you're on the truck, you're with your brothers," he said.
他說：但當你在消防車內，你就是跟你的兄弟在一起。
He took care of Mr O'Dwyer's young daughter when the prime minister visited the station on Sunday, to meet with her grieving mother.
當總理在週日前來消防局，訪視奧德懷爾先生悲痛欲絕的遺孀時，他負責照料他的小女兒。
He's proud of the photo he shared last week, which was taken in a controlled setting. That image of him standing in the middle of a flaming forest has gone viral. Mr O'Dwyer had helped him put the finishing touches on the edit.
他對上週分享出去的照片相當自豪，拍的時候情勢已經控制住了。照片裡他站在燃燒的森林當中，這張照片很快的也在網路上大量轉傳。而這是奧德懷爾先生幫他拍下的。
"Everyone has a choice in life, in what they want to do when they wake up in the morning," says Mr Knox.
諾克斯先生說："人生有些抉擇，像是每天早上起來到底想要做什麼。"
"I'd rather be out there firefighting - doing our part for the community. Making those two boys proud of us for getting back out there."
"我寧願出動救火 - 為我的社區做出貢獻。當我回家的時候，我的兩個小孩會以我們為榮。"
註釋：
landscaper: 園藝師父、園丁
take someone under one's wing: 照料、教導
en route: 途中
skate by: 用某種方法度過困難的事
prolific: 多產的
fall into a heap: 悲痛欲絕
adrenalin: 腎上腺素，run on adrenalin表示是全速運轉中
weigh on someone: 壓上千斤重擔、責任使人擔憂
reticent: 寡言的
in the thick of something: 在...最激烈、艱難的處境、時刻
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