Hello to all.
First off, sincere condolences to anyone who has had any form of loss on this tragic weekend.
Secondly, this is how it was told to me by my parents as I was out of town.
Watching tv tonight has changed my outlook on what could have been. Life could have been so much worse, save for the wind shift that has saved my hometown, my family and potentially many more lives. This should not subtract to the hurt that has rocked the whole nation of the sheer horror that is still unfolding as we speak.
I moved up to Warragul, East Gippsland, Victoria in November 2007 as a 16 year old with high expectations of a fresh start and a higher prospect on life. Bushfires were always one worry in the back of my mind. Life has been bushfire free for us up untill Friday 6th of February 2009/Saturday 7th of February 2009.
Unfortunately (or luckily?) for me, I was staying with relatives in Chadstone on Friday night which meant that I had no chance to make it up to Warragul that night. Trains were cancelled as of 1pm and the Princes Freeway was also closed from Pakenham to Warragul.
The first real worry for us, was when we turned the radio onto ABC and found out about the monster fire in the outskirts of Drouin. For those of you who don't know, Drouin is about a 10-15minute drive from Warragul along the Korumburra-Warragul road.
This is when my parents gave us the call, to let us know that Warragul was on moderate alert due to the Drouin fires. These fires had moved rather quickly to Drouin, but slowed down there. Unfortunately they did destroy a few houses.
The next worry for us was the fire that started in the Bunyip State Forest. This was made scary by the powerfullness and rate the fire was moving through Gippsland.
Photo of the Bunyip fire from our house.
This was taken at 1.45pm Saturday.
We were yet to realise the severity of the situation, as the wind kicked up right about then, aiming directly for the line of our town.
While watching this fire get closer, and closer to Warragul, my little brother comes running down the street at around 4pm, "There's a fire over the top of the hill." A few hours of running around followed with only a few minutes to take a few photos.
This was the start of the Nilma/Darnum fires which were oh so worrying. The fact that these places are all within a 15-20minute drive from us was the most chilling feature.
This is the Nilma/Darnum fire taken at 6pm.
The sun was litterally engulfed by smogs of smoke by 3pm.
5/6pm- we heard that Neerim, Neerim South and Rokeby had been evacuated due to the Bunyip fire. Brandy Creek was under a thick black cloud of smoke. This is where panic started to creep in. Virtually surrounded by fires, towns being evactuated all around. Wind still blowing a gust in our direction. We could virtually feel the heat of the fire in the wind. This was also when we had our first flaming ember fly from the Nilma/Darnum fire, was a good 10 inches long.
More continued tomorrow, it's late, I'm tired,stressed and relieved.
CFA/DSE/Volunteers are all heros, without you we would be nothing.