Cherry Garden bushfire victims count the cost, recall terrifying fights to save homes, lives

As some victims of the Cherry Garden fire count the devastating costs, others have recalled tense fights to save life and property on Sunday.

Wrecked sheds, burnt-out cars and dead animals litter Bradbury – the area hardest hit by the Cherry Gardens bushfire.

Residents were powerless to stop the flames when they jumped Mount Bold Road from the reservoir on Sunday.

As it was revealed there could have been as many as 10 ignition points for the fire, Country Fire Service mopped up the fireground and residents returned to inspect the damage to their properties.

Among them was Rae Townsend, 71, whose home was one of two destroyed.

As she pored over the remains, she said she had made the right decision to flee with her two dogs, but lamented not having time to save prized possessions.

Rae Townsend lost her Bradbury home in the Cherry Gardens Bushfire.

Rae Townsend looks over the ruins of her home.

“You look at it now – what could I have done with a garden hose?” she said. “Not a thing. I’m glad I went.

“I didn’t get the photos out.

“They were all boxed up ready to go.

“I didn’t get things like the family Bible – that’s a couple of hundred years old – out.”

When asked about investigations into the fire being deliberately lit, she said: “It makes me very angry and you don’t really want to know what I’d like to do with them.”

Most Mount Bold Road residents still have their homes, but many have sheds that are now just a mangled mess of metal.

All up, the fire destroyed 17 outbuildings, two vehicles and the two houses, while 60 homes that were in direct danger were saved.

Scott Creek Conservation Park has been largely destroyed after the fire ripped through it. The bodies of dead kangaroos and lizards lay all around the sea of black stumps and white ash.

George Wood, whose Scott Creek property is surrounded by the conservation park, said the fire came within metres of his land.

He and his sons defended the perimeter of the property with hoses, stopping it from jumping to his land and, potentially, others.

George Wood defended his property on the edge of the Scott Creek Conservation Park. Picture: Kelly Barnes

“We’ve been here for 20 years and my fingerprints are on every part of this property … and I’d be very sad to lose it,” Mr Wood said.

“Last night was the first night’s sleep – it’s all just a blur to me.

“I said to my son while we were sitting down there on the quad bike, ‘how ironic for Australia Day’, and he said ‘No, that’s tomorrow, Dad’.”

Much of the most-worrying parts of the fireground remained difficult to access yesterday. Firefighters lugged heavy equipment by hand into areas near Mylor in an effort to quell flare-ups.

As the humidity lifts and warm weather returns, more hotspots are likely to emerge.

CFS incident controller Scott Turner said that despite the heavy rains on Monday, the fire was still flaring up near Bradbury, Mylor and Clarendon.

“The challenge with the fire in that terrain, and the fuel loads, was knowing exactly where the fire would come out,” Mr Turner said. “The wind picked up as it approached Mount Bold Road and as the fire went over.”

He said fire investigators, who completed their work yesterday, found 10 possible ignition points.

Police are continuing their investigations into how the blaze began.