Cudlee Creek fire victim’s daughter stranded in US on anniversary of tragedy

A year after a family tragedy at Cudlee Creek, coronavirus has broken the heart of a fire victim’s daughter all over again.

THE daughter of Cudlee Creek fire victim Ron Selth is unable to be with her family on the anniversary of his death because they are stuck in the US, recovering from coronavirus.

Johanna Selth and her family live in Washington and have all had COVID-19 as the virus has swept through America in the past few months.

It means her sister Jasmin Berry and brother Luke will have to spent Christmas here at home without her.

Sadder still, they have to hold off scattering their father’s ashes on the family farm in Charleston – something they had planned to do for their next reunion.

Paying tribute to their “larger than life” dad this week, Ms Berry said the past 12 months had been a roller-coaster ride for the close family.

“We’re not really doing anything for the anniversary and it will probably be more about getting through the day as best as we can,” Ms Berry said.

“Also, my sister (and her family) are in Washington so can’t be here for the anniversary.

Jasmine Berry with a portrait of her father Ron Selth who died as a result of the Cudlee Creek fire. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

“They all had COVID and were really sick at one point, so it hasn’t been a great year.

“As she can’t be with us, I will be catching up with my brother and his family instead as he only lives five minutes from me and has been a great support throughout it all.”

Mr Selth, 69, a civil engineer by profession and a passionate farmer in his free time, succumbed to the bushfires at his Charleston property on December 20.

He and his family bought the 1950s farmhouse and 113ha sheep property in January 1983, just weeks before the deadly Ash Wednesday fires.

It had been threatened by fire before, and like most Hills dwellers, Selth knew how to prepare the property and had spent time at the end of a fire hose.

Despite his love of wide open spaces, Selth lived for most of the week with his partner Suzy in Crafers, but stayed at the farm once a week to care for his 160 sheep.

But as coincidence had it, Selth returned for his weekly visit on December 20 where he, and 50 of his sheep, succumbed to the fires that evening.

When his three children visited the farm the following day, after being unable to reach their father via phone, they found trees still burning and their childhood home reduced to rubble.

Cudlee Creek fire victim Ron Selth. Picture: Supplied by family

Ms Berry said the memories of that day still lingered heavily.

“When we go out to the property, the part where the house was, we don’t tend to go there anymore,” she said.

“Instead, we go to the cottage dad built and it’s there we actually wanted to spread his ashes this year but because our sister can’t be back, we’ll have to wait to do that.”

While visiting the family farm is generally done with a heavy heart, Ms Berry said there were no immediate plans to sell the property.

“There is a lot of attachment to the land so it’s quite hard to let it go at this point and aren’t sure what to do with it at this point,” she said.

“We just want to give ourselves a bit of time before making any big decisions.

“However, we’ve had some contact from some of our closest neighbours, one of which did some planting on the property … to make hay bales.

Mourners farewall Ron Selth in January. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

“But now that we have the fences up, we hopefully will get some of the neighbours’ stock on it, which will be good as we’re still deciding what to do with the property.” 

While the past year has undoubtedly been a tough one, Ms Berry said she was looking forward to seeking her father commemorated in a special way next year.

“I recently had a chat with the lady from the Lobethal Recovery Centre and she was letting me know that dad had done some work in Mount Torrens on their entrance,” Ms Berry said.

“They are building this stone entrance way and dad has done the engineering work for that, so they are going to put up a plaque for dad one that and that’s really lovely.”