CFA

Alan Burgess emailed this to me
CFAText Box: LARA FIRE JANUARY 1969 On 7th of January 1969, I was home from work when the Norlane Tanker went by ringing the truck’s warning bell as it passed. I grabbed my fire fighting gear and followed it to where a grass fire was burning quite fiercely into a stand of trees on the “Wooloomanata” property in Bacchus Marsh Road, opposite Carrs Road Anakie. It was later determined that the fire was caused by combustible debris leaving upswept exhaust from a truck leaving Bacchus Marsh Road and entering Carrs Road. I left my PMG vehicle parked safely on the side of the road, got into my gear, and jumped onto the back of the tanker. By this time the fire had entered the treed property, fuelled by a hot north-easterly wind. With the assistance of several other tankers, we got the fire under control after an hour or so and began blacking out the numerous tree stumps etc which were still burning over what had become quite a large area. Having received refreshments (including a box of cold beer provided by the owner of the property,) we were inexplicitly sent home even though there were still many stumps burning, and the next day having been declared a total fire ban with expected hot northerly winds! The fire was left virtually unattended overnight, even though the Geelong 4X4 Bedford crew had requested permission to remain at the scene. This was denied due to over-time issues. Again, on the day of the major fire, all staff offered to return to duty. Once again permission was refused as the granting of overtime was not forthcoming.(Appeals for untrained volunteers were broadcast over local radio station 3GL, with all manner of odd bods offering their services – from drunks to well-meaning Boy Scouts!) ……..As predicted by the weather bureau, Gale force winds blew up very early, and by 9am the fire was completely out of control. Our tanker had been despatched early with a fresh crew after the fire had flared up, and with numerous other tankers were fighting a losing battle against the fast running fire which was spotting up to half a mile ahead, soon entering the Lara township. The heat, smoke, and gale force winds rendered communications inoperable, being effected by ionization of the atmosphere caused by the debris, smoke and dust from the fire. Crews desperately attempted to save houses and property in a completely uncoordinated manner. I was in our “First Aid Pumper” with Station Officer Max O’Brien and two other crew on the back, and joined in the fray. We managed to put out a balcony fire on one house – it later burnt down. At another premises, we used all of our water to extinguish a fire in the roof, however, as the truck description implies, the pumper only carried 300 gallons of water, it’s purpose being to give first aid at a fire while it’s extensive amount of hoses were connected to a hydrant or other water source to continue fighting a fire. This was completely impractical under the circumstances, and by the time we had re-filled and returned to this house, it also was beyond saving! ……At this stage, we headed through the thick smoke and flying embers to Avalon Road where two elderly people resided and were feared trapped. The manner in which we proceeded was to aim the spot-light down to the road edging , following it in this manner until we reached the driveway. What we discovered at this address was a pile of corrugated iron on the ground where the homestead had once stood. By this time the extreme wind had blown a lot of the smoke out over Corio Bay and the devastation began to become apparent. (We later heard that the fire had taken 7 minutes to traverse the 7 miles from Bacchus Marsh Road to the Princes Highway!) We passed many sheep, their fleece smouldering, as we made our way back to the Highway, and slowly headed towards Geelong. A short distance down the road near the telephone repeater station at Avalon Airfield we came across a sight I shall never forget. About half a dozen cars stood in a line completely burnt out. In the back seat of one car, it’s doors wide open, were the burnt remains of two children. A male barely burnt, was straddled half-way through the wire strands of the boundary fence of the adjacent paddock. Approximately 20 yards into the completely bare paddock, face down, lay the body of a female unscathed by the fire. Several more bodied lay strewn not far from their vehicles. It is believed that the deceased on the highway were caught in an inversion fire storm, where the un-burnt debris was carried aloft in an updraft, then deposited burning in a free-fall above their location – effectively they were encased in a fireball. Obviously, the enormous fast-moving grass-fire with it’s associated dense smoke and approaching flames had caused panic amongst some of the occupants who had tried to out-run the fire. A total of 17 died, of whom 8 died at the scene, 2 died being transported to hospital, and 7 died later in hospital. Some people had stayed in their cars with the windows closed and were able to drive off when the smoke grew less dense. Six known survivors had definitely remained in their cars, one of which burnt after the occupants had safely alighted. We later learnt that although all Melbourne-bound traffic had been blocked at Corio, it was some time before Geelong-bound traffic had been halted. It was reported that one survivor being Gary Dempsey, ruckman for V.F.L. team Footscray who spent 6 weeks in hospital was amongst these people; however he was burnt on an exposed tennis court at Truganina. This fire commenced on the Derrimut Road at the back of Werribee when electric power lines made contact with a tree and burnt through to Laverton. It was completely removed from the Lara fire, the Media at the time obviously considered that the Lara fires with the fatalities would have more impact, thus moved Gary from Truganina to Lara!. (He was actually burnt when a vapour fire travelling at ground level flashed over the tennis court.) ……..In Forest Road South, S.S.O. Eric Collier (of Frankston) was detailed to save the Lara Lake School. He laid out hose and prepared to meet the fire head on. When the school behind him exploded in flame from the radiant heat, he was devastated! Just prior to this, Sen. Constable Kelly of Lara Police attempted to evacuate the residents of a bluestone cottage opposite. An elderly woman Margaret Mary Shanahan was discovered deceased (having suffered from asphyxiation and had possibly died of a heart attack) Kelly only just had time to bundle her brother into the police car and flee before they were run over by the fire. Her body was subsequently burnt in the fire. ……..Overall in the Lara fire, there were 17 deaths, with 43 homes, a Church and a School being destroyed along with an unknown number of out-buildings and stock. ……..Six other deaths resulted during fires in other areas of the State, including north of the Great Dividing Range, where large fires burnt out of control. Other affected towns included Bulgana, Darraweit, Daylesford, Kangaroo Flat, Korongvale and Yea. On that day in 1969 when temperatures soared to 103 degrees, there were 230 fires with 31 exceeding 100 acres and 21 considered to be of major proportions. A total of 23 people perished, 230 homes and 21 other buildings were destroyed along with more than 12,000 stock The total area burnt was approximately 800,000 acres!

Workmen clean up at the mill

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