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Wild Dog Creek Rd - St Andrews We lost some homes but most tragically lost a neighbour. They were well prepared but the fire was so intense in our location I believe it was un-fightable. I now have lost confidence in the stay and defend message - I believe in some locations, in some conditions, some homes are undefendable. The intensity of this fire was such that for me things taught are no longer always true, the rule book has changed. If your plan is to stay and defend ask is your home really in a defendable location under extreme weather conditions?
Mills Rd - Kinglake Everything was working how it was supposed to we were prepared and ready - and then our plans went out the window. The severity and speed of the fire meant our carefully prepared list of things to do, the order of what things to do first, second ... There was no time… I could see a black smoky cloud from our SW corner, I honestly thought the smoke was from other fires, within 5 minutes the wind got stronger and I said to my wife “think I‘ll go and check the sprinkler system”. The fire was still near Whittlesea I thought - spot fires in Humevale 774 tells me and we thought it might potentially come our way. I got the sprinkler going, looked to my left and the paddock was alight – the fire was here. That was all the time we had 3 or 4 minutes. All our plans, bringing in the hoses inside with us, no time, the fire hit like a ball. Our neighbours rushed in, they had had their curtains drawn and the first they knew was their house was on fire already. We had done all our homework, our sprinkler system created a curtain of mist, our flowers are still blooming where the sprinklers were. Three houses are left in our street and no one in the CFG group lost their lives.
Mc Murrays - Kinglake Our home sits in our burnt out bush block of 52 acres, a medallion of green in the middle of black. This year we decided to keep the grass around the house green with our bore water. We didn‘t get the intensity of some other areas, but there was little warning it was actually coming even with the scanner. Our plan was to go to the neighbours which we had already done. We were prepared but after the wind change were caught unawares by the speed, it was too far away to be of threat then suddenly it was there. We raced to put on the sprinklers, and in the now pitch black you couldn‘t see a thing - five cars came down our road full of screaming people. A dead end road - looking for an escape route. We ushered them all inside - looked after their kids - and listened to the noise of the fire that was completely and utterly terrifying yet we remained calm. One of the cars had driven up from St Andrews and somehow ended up in our dead end street. Our neighbours well prepared home turned into a shelter from radiant heat for almost 40 people who then kipped down for the night. Ed: How lucky were they that you were there!
Steels Creek My plan was to stay and defend and fall back to my neighbours well prepared property when the fire approached. However on Saturday 7th I decided to leave early. This was for a number of reasons. The most important being the extreme weather predictions for the day, I knew that any fire would be extreme and my home under these conditions was very vulnerable. I was also on my own and had the added risk of a tree recently fallen creating lots of fuel and firewood. I was also concerned that the 50m to my neighbour’s house may be too far to safely get to in time. I could see a smoke column in the far distance and contacted my neighbour to let him know I was leaving. Although I did lose my house I feel very lucky, lucky that I had had the CFA training and the discipline it brings to make a clear decision. Others in my road I called were going to “wait and see” before they left and ended up making a terrifying dash to safety. Others I think were waiting for the phone tree to activate their fire plan. Being self reliant and having the knowledge to make an independent decision was a really important thing I leant from CFA. My decision to leave early was right for me that day and possibly saved my life, my neighbour successfully defended his home, but reports that with the speed of the fire the 50m I had to get to their place may well have been too far. |
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