By Alex Crowe
Wildwood Wildlife Shelter operator Pam Turner wasn’t going anywhere on Boxing Day despite her fears the Grampians bushfire could head her way – she had a lounge room with 20 joeys in it to look after.
She and the rescued roos sheltered inside her Victoria Valley house as sprinklers doused the roof and sheds outside.
“I was extremely anxious. I was preparing myself for a giant fireball to come over the mountains,” Turner said. “I chose to stay for the very reason that I had a cottage full of joeys. How could I leave them locked in the cottage?”
The forecast 70-kilometre northeasterly winds that threatened to blow the fire towards Wildwood failed to eventuate, and rainfall on Saturday brought some relief to the shelter.
But Turner remains worried about what may be yet to come.
Three homes in the town of Moyston and 11 outbuildings in the surrounding area have been reported as destroyed by the Grampians blaze so far, and animal rescuers are waiting for permission to enter the Grampians National Park to assess wildlife losses.
Pam Turner caring for one of the joeys she kept safe during the Grampians bushfires.
The blaze, whose perimeter stretches more than 380 kilometres, has scorched more than 75,000 hectares and is expected to burn into the new year due to dry conditions and difficult, mountainous terrain.
Authorities have reported stock losses, as well as beehive, fencing, pasture and hay losses from the fire, which began early last week.
Turner was part of the wildlife rescue effort following the Mount Lubra fire, which burnt half the Grampians in 2006. She said the loss of life had left her traumatised.
“For months afterwards we were finding injured kangaroos, burnt on the pads of their feet. They were starving because there was no food,” she said. “At this stage, we don’t know what to expect – [the current fire] will certainly be ongoing for weeks and weeks.”
An officer from the Environment Department was deployed to assess wildlife losses outside the fire zone this week and was expected to determine whether a triage centre was required to treat injured animals in coming days.
Emergency services described the Boxing Day conditions as some of the worst they had seen since the Black Summer fires of 2019-20.Credit: Justin McManus
Wildlife Victoria has experienced an increase in calls about heat-stressed animals since summer began and expected calls for burns and dehydration to spike as people returned to the Grampians.
Residents of Halls Gap were given permission to return to their homes on Friday, but the park remained closed to tourists.
Three watch and act alerts are current in and around the Grampians National Park. The area from Long Gully Road to College Road remains unsafe to return to.
McKenzie Creek resident Brendan Stemp was on alert for changes to weather conditions that could blow embers towards his cattery and neighbouring farmland.
Stemp said the more than 30 cats at his property had been kept comfortable during the worst fire conditions, but he was expecting significant damage to wildlife inside the park.
“Because it’s such a huge area, there’s millions of animals in there, and all these other critters and insects that the fire’s going to take a huge toll on,” he said.
Stemp said the other concern was wildlife being pushed out into grazing land and having to compete with sheep and cattle for food.
“Often wildlife come off second best when that happens.”
Three homes and 11 outbuildings have been lost in the Grampians fire so far.Credit: Justin McManus
Cooler conditions in the Wimmera at the weekend are forecast to be replaced by warmer weather next week. The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted temperatures in the low 30s on Monday and up to 35 degrees on Tuesday.
Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent said the next week would provide favourable conditions for firefighters.
“Weather over the next week looks relatively stable. This will allow us time to stabilise the fires and continue back-burning operations, and look to support the community further,” Nugent said.
In addition to state and federal support for local government areas affected by the Grampians fire, personal hardship payments are now available. One-off payments of $680 for adults and $340 for children up to $2380 per affected family are being provided to help cover essentials.
Forest Fire Management Victoria spokesman Chris Hardman said it was thanks to firefighters that the fire situation had not been worse in recent days.
“Without their hard work, we would have had much bigger fires causing much bigger damage,” Hardman said. “On behalf of all Victorians I would like to thank them because what they did on Boxing Day in extreme fire danger saved a lot more anguish and pain that Victorians now don’t have to suffer.”
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