Fighting the Fire
Fighting the Fire
On Saturday the 7th of February conditions of extreme heat and strong
winds caused many fires throughout the state of Victoria. These fires
destructed more than a thousand homes and caused a death toll nearing
200, both of which are set to worsen. Hundreds of fires burnt out of
control, leaving a path of destruction.
A grass fire began in Narre Warren North, on Saturday, when a local
decided to use a grinder to make a fence. A resident of Narre Warren
North explained that the fire had taken "one house on our road which was
heritage listed and then three houses to the back of ours." The Narre
Warren North fire also affected all of Harkaway with most residents
being evacuated from their homes.
The resident of Narre Warren North explained that the fire wasn't an
emergency at the beginning but when it hit the gully it became an
emergency, fast. She said there was no warning for us, "it began at the
front of the property from the gully at the bottom of the road, then it
was at the side then at the back of our property." The house was under
extreme threat.
When asked how she coped she said "I chucked the chooks in the laundry,
the dog in the house and we filled buckets, and got the hose ready. We
also had our recycle bin full of water, I wasn't worried a lot about my
house but about other peoples. At the beginning I said to my husband we
should help our neighbours, their barn may go". The fire began impacting
houses and sheds around 5pm on 'Black Saturday'.
The resident had a lot of locals in her backyard all helping fight the
fire by throwing water buckets over the fence, most of these locals
weren't fire-fighters. The resident also said that "'Elvis' the
water-bombing helicopter was taking water from the lake next to their
property".
The resident can still smell smoke, she said "a week later it is still
smoky and although the fire is contained the CFA is checking it
regularly".
A volunteer fire fighter from Berwick spoke on how his job was to go "to
the fires in Narre Warren North at around 3pm", after he arrived they
"ran a hose about 60m long behind houses putting out fences and the
grass along the fence line". He praised locals as they helped out "with
their garden hose". Whilst fighting the grass fire a "local ran out
yelling 'STOP STOP, my house is on fire!" He explained that from there
it "took us two hours to get the fire out from around the houses."
The volunteer spent another four hours protecting assets at Narre Warren
North before stopping for a break. On Saturday the 14th of February he
left for the Wilsons Prom fire where he was fighting the fire for 14
hours.
The volunteer explained how relieved he was that most of the fires
around Victoria are "controlled now, but there's eight still going." He
hoped that in a few more weeks all of the fires would be under control
because "seeing the fire was bad then it got worse and worse" he
explained that "the fires over the past few weekends were the worst in
history". The young man did say that the past two weeks had provided him
with a greater "understanding of weather change" in regards to a
fire.
Volunteering as a fire fighter runs through his family, his father was a
fire fighter; his cousin and his uncle are also both fire fighters.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has stated that an emergency warning system
was high on the Government's agenda, implementing a system that would
send text or voice messages to landlines and mobiles would help avert
tragedies.
Victoria has pulled together, in this time of need, by the 13^th of
February, $77 million had already been raised for The Red Cross and that
isn't the end of it. With fundraisers still occurring and shops still
sending proceeds from purchases it shows how caring Australians and
those overseas who have contributed are.
Donations can also be made at any of the major banks: Commonwealth,
Westpac, National Australia Bank, ANZ, Suncorp Metway or Bank of
Queensland. Alternatively you can call on 1800 811 700 with your credit
card details.
Blood supplies in Queensland and Victoria are also short and will be
needed now and in the future. Go to www.redcross.org.au
for more information.
For more information:
www.femail.com.au/melbourne-bushfire-devastation-help-victims.htm
www.femail.com.au/black-saturday-bushfires.htm
www.femail.com.au/victorian-bushfires-beechworth.htm
Victorian Bushfire Blog - How have they affected you and those you know?
