‘The terror of bushfires’
Throughout the hot summer months, Australia has always lived with the constant scourge of bushfires which occur more frequently and extensively than anywhere else in the world. One of the most devastating was the disastrous fires which occurred on January 13th, known as ‘Black Friday’ in 1939, which swept across the south-eastern part of Victoria to the coast leaving a trail of heartache and death in its wake. Almost 2 million hectares were burnt, whole townships were demolished in seconds and thousands of sheep, cattle and horses were devoured by the intense flames. 71 people lost their lives at this time and the town of Narbethong was destroyed, along with other areas hit hard including Warrandyte, Yarra Glen and the Victorian Alps. It was after this catastrophe that the Country Fire Authority (CFA) was formed.
I remember Dad being involved in fighting the bushfires which swept through the Dandenong Ranges on the outskirts of Melbourne on February 19th 1968 and how he related to us the frightening story of being caught in a valley in which the oxygen was sucked out with the fire crew barely making it back to safety. On this occasion, the Basin and Upwey were savaged, the sun was blotted out by the thick black smoke and ashes fell on our front lawn in Ringwood, which was over 10 kilometres away. 53 houses were lost in this blaze. We have often thought over the years as we have journeyed through the heavily timbered ranges why people would build their houses in such a fire prone area.
In the previous year, the Tasmanian fires had occurred on 7th February 1967 and became known as the ‘Black Tuesday’ bushfires which were the most deadly that Tasmania ever experienced leaving 62 people dead, 900 injured and over seven thousand people homeless. Who could ever forget the television footage of Hobart laying helplessly beneath the backdrop of Mt. Wellington which was a raging inferno that engulfed the outskirts of the city claiming 52 people in the Hobart area alone?
On January 8th 1969, 230 bushfires broke out across Southern Victoria including the Lara fire which killed 18 people who left their cars on the Princes Highway trying to out-run the fire front. In all, 23 people were killed and 230 homes lost in a trail of destruction with the most affected areas being Lara, Daylesford, Dulgana, Yea, Darraweit, Kangaroo Flat & Korongvale.
One of the worst fires occurred on February 16th 1983 after a long drought and massive dust storms engulfed Melbourne. The ‘Ash Wednesday’ bush fires decimated Victorian and South Australian rural areas, especially Mt Macedon, the Dandenongs – of which the small town of Cockatoo was especially targeted, Warburton and the Otway regions. 47 people lost their lives in Victoria and another 28 were killed in South Australia with a total of 2000 houses lost overall.
Between 27th December 1993 and 16th January 1994 Sydney became surrounded by bushfires which burnt over 8,000 square kilometres and 225 homes were destroyed which were mostly in the southern Sydney region. This was the first time that bushfires had entered one of our major cities but worse was to come with the Canberra fires.
The Canberra bushfires of 2003 caused severe damage to the outskirts of Canberra with almost 70% of the Australian Capital Territory’s pasture, forests and nature parks severely damaged, and most of the renowned Mount Stromlo Observatory was destroyed. After burning for a week around the edges of the ACT, the fires entered the suburbs of Canberra on 18 January 2003. Over the next ten hours, four people died and more than 500 homes were destroyed or severely damaged, requiring a significant relief and reconstruction.
The most devastating bushfires and the worst natural distaster in Australia occurred on ‘Black Saturday’ 7th February 2009 in Victoria where the death toll was 173 including TV veteran newsreader Brian Naylor and his wife. Over 1000 homes were destroyed by 26 separate fires and it is a sad indictment of our society that some of these fires were started by arsonists.
Along side these significant tragedies in Australia, my own experience of bushfires may seem minor in comparison, but nevertheless the memories of two outbreaks near our family farms in Western Victoria are still etched in my mind. The first occurred on Sunday January 2nd 1955. It was a stinking hot day with the temperature hovering at 110 degrees Fahrenheit during the afternoon with a searing, strong northerly wind blowing at around 60 miles an hour. The paddocks were tinder dry and at that time of the year most farmers had been busily carting in hay but being a Sunday and with the temperature so unbearable everyone had opted for a well earned day off.
A family friend, Clem Mahoney, a Primary school teacher in Melbourne and friend of the family, had driven me up to Coleraine to spend the Christmas holidays on the family farms which adjoined one another. I had just turned 6 years of age and on that particular day, I was staying with my Grandmother, along with Tommy her son who ran the farm, Grandpa’s brother, ‘Old Tom’ as we called him, as well as Grandma’s daughter Tricia and husband Basil who had come down from Horsham for the day.
As usual, we had sat down to a traditional Sunday roast and afterwards we relaxed with the customary nap but were awakened by a phone call at 3:30pm alerting us about a fire which was out of control and sweeping rapidly in our direction. At that time, farmers were hopelessly prepared for major bushfires and the best that they could do was to throw buckets of tank water on the sides of their wooden houses and prepare knapsacks which were metal containers of water that were strapped to the fire fighters backs and operated by pumping the handle backwards and forwards to obtain a thin spray which proved to be completely hopeless in major outbreaks of fire.
As we all raced a hundred metres to the front gate and focused our eyes to the north, sheer terror overtook us as a wall of fire raced along the valley towards our farm. Within minutes a mountain of smoke engulfed the whole sky which suddenly became eerily black, somber and menacing.
I could see the panic in everyone’s eyes as they laboriously tried to fill buckets from the tanks which painfully and slowly gave up their water. Grandma decided to put her faith in God rather than a few buckets of water by taking a statue from inside the house and putting it in the front garden. It was then that I decided to make my move and run away to my uncle Ballies farm which was some two kilometres to the west and represented safety for me. With confusion all around me, I made good my escape and was over two hundred metres away and gathering pace as I headed down the laneway to the creek crossing. It was then that I was found to be missing and it was probably Basil or Tricia who finally caught me and dragged me back reluctantly into the danger zone. But to everyone’s relief, the fire roared past on the other side of our road and within seconds had careered away gobbling up all in its path. The blistering heat and loud crashing sound of the fire exploding forward in its path was enough to make my uncle Tommy be forever fearful of fires for the rest of this life.
The next day we travelled the back roads of the area which revealed a horrible trail of destruction. It was distressing to see animals that had been caught in the fury of the fire and were still suffering. In the Tarranlea area over 10,000 acres had been burnt, 4 houses were destroyed along with 70 miles of fencing. Over 4000 sheep, 100 cattle and a number of horses were also incinerated or had to be destroyed.
Grandfather Mahoney (brother of Mick Mahoney who was KIA in World War 1) and his wife Louisa had 10 children and lived at the top of the hill where Browns house is today. The photo shows Jim and Kevin Mahoney.
Bev Jewell Martin and Annette Jewell (nee Mahoney) daughters of Catherine Mahoney the youngest of the 10 children.
5 Mahoney boys came out from Ireland. The Second boy Michael had a son also Michael (Mick born 1875 who was KIA in World War 1).
On Tuesday January 4th Leslie Richard Griffith, known locally as ‘Nugget Williams,’ was charged with lighting a fire in the open. He had lived in a small hut on the south western slope of Mt. Koroit hill not far from the town of Coleraine for over 15 years doing odd jobs such as gardening and wood chopping. ‘Nugget Williams’ was later sentenced to 4 months goal and the judge in imposing the punishment described the great carelessness of leaving a camp oven unattended and that imprisonment would also be a deterrent to others.
The fire highlighted many short comings including lack of communication between fire fighters, lack of suitable equipment and lack of preparation by the use of firebreaks. It was after this fire that a more co-ordinated response was launched with the stationing of local fire trucks containing large water tanks which were ready for immediate use in case of emergencies. At that time Coleraine had no rural fire brigade.
On January 20th of that same year the fire siren again sounded at 11:30am as a fire had been sighted on the Portland Road about a mile away from the town. This fire would have directly threatened my uncle Ballies farm but a quick response from a number of volunteers using ‘beaters’ and knapsack sprays brought the fire under control.
The second Tarranlea fire took place in mid January 1966 but on a much smaller scale. This time I was at my uncle Ballies farm and as usual for this time of the year we had been carting in hay around the clock. I remember being quite exhausted from the constant hay carting as we sat outside after lunch under the shady pine trees. It was then that we noticed billowing clouds of black smoke rising into the air in the direction of the township. This time the fire had started as a result of controlled burning off the previous day. Subsequently a heap of boxthorn ignited causing the fire to jump the Tarranlea road and destroy one house.
In a matter of minutes, Ballie cranked up the old 37 Chev and we sped towards the fire. It’s amazing how I had previously felt so lethargic but with all drama, I found that adrenalin had kicked in and I felt fully charged with energy. As we raced down Doueals hill, Ballie was throwing caution to the wind and for a split second I felt that the Chev was going to roll over as we hurtled around the corner of Paddy’s lane at the bottom of that steep hill.
This time the fire was more contained because of Lucerne crops that had been sewn in the fires path and fire breaks which had been harrowed using discs pulled behind tractors. All the same, 1000 acres were burnt and 9 miles of fencing destroyed. While the fire of 1955 had run its course to the Wannon River some 10 miles away, this fire was contained within 3 miles from the point of outbreak. In all, two houses were lost along with several sheds and about 230 sheep.
With the expectation of rising temperatures and drought due to global warming, along with a reduction in rainfall and more severe weather conditions, residents in our southern States will need to reassess where they choose to live and their preparedness for the overwhelming consequences of such catastrophes as ‘Black Saturday’ in 2009. Australia has a long history of bush fires and we can never allow ourselves to become complacent.
· Trish and Basil were married in 1954 which explains why they came to see Grandma in early Jan 1955 and why they were present when the fire swept through Tarranlea at that time.
