Fathers, son, newlyweds: Nation mourns 29 lives lost to bushfires
Australia is mourning the deaths of 29 people, as the scope of the bushfire disaster continues to unfold. Today, The Daily Telegraph pays tribute to each victim from fathers and sons to firefighters to a newlywed couple who died side-by-side fighting to save their property.
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Australia’s bushfire crisis has become “a mark of national significance” alongside other harrowing tragedies in our history, experts say.
The catastrophe has been compared to seminal events, including the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in which 35 were murdered and Black Saturday in 2009 when 173 people died in Victoria and more than 2000 homes lost.
The nation is mourning the deaths of 29 people, as the scope of the disaster continues to unfold.
Today, The Daily Telegraph pays tribute to each victim. They came from all walks of life and include young fathers who were firefighters or farmers, beloved mothers and grandfathers who would do anything for their grandchildren.
Chris Savva’s daughter Bianca paid tribute to the grandad who saved his South Arm home but died in a road crash in the fire’s aftermath.
“He was incredibly kind and had a great sense of humour. He really was a hero,” she said. “He was a doting father and his grandchildren were the apple of his eye.
“He was a wonderful man.”
Friends of dairy farmer Patrick Salway, 29, who had a toddler and a baby on the way, praised his “it’ll be right” attitude and dedication to his family.
He died alongside his father Robert on the family’s dairy near Cobargo.
Bush pilot Dick Lang perished with his brilliant surgeon son Clayton at Kangaroo Island on January 4.
Surviving son Derek said his father was a “force of nature”.
“I’m glad that he was able to live his life, doing what he loved on his terms,” he said.
The victims died over the course of months in fires that have burnt more than 11 million hectares of land — the size of Ethiopia — killed at least 50,000 livestock and razed more than 3000 homes across the country.
Billions of animals could also be wiped out and others face becoming endangered.
National Bushfire Recovery Agency boss Andrew Colvin said this summer would be “an important time in our history”.
“This bushfire is different because it’s a longer period of time, it’s still ongoing and it has touched many jurisdictions,” he said.
“There’s a long way to go to understand the full impact and the damage.”
Demographer Bernard Salt said social media had revolutionised the way Australians connected to bushfires.
Viral videos and photos from the frontline, including harrowing vision of a NSW RFS crew’s truck being overrun by flames, have been beamed around the world.
“The advent of social media has brought it home in the same way the Vietnam War was brought home to Americans and Australians with TV news bulletins,” Mr Salt said. “Viral videos and commentary from people at the fire front has made it closer, more real, more tangible, more frightening.
“It is seminal. This is the first real peacetime calamity that has been dominated by social media reports.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will this week host a phone hook-up with the premiers of Victoria, NSW and South Australia to discuss the bushfire response.
The federal government has already committed to spending at least $2 billion over the coming two years and will spend more.
In NSW, fires began near Drake in the state’s north on September 7, before 44 homes in Rappville were razed in October and the south coast was torched from November.
Three people have died in South Australia with a fire in Cudlee Creek on December 20 and two major fires on Kangaroo Island.
In Victoria, 1.5 million hectares of land and 387 properties have been burnt, while 35,000 Queensland firefighters and volunteers have battled a string of fires in the state’s southeast since early September.
THE FACES OF HEARTBREAK: NSW
October 9, 2019
Bob Lindsay, 77, and Gwen Hyde, 68
Coongbar
Newlyweds Bob Lindsay and Gwen Hyde perished side-by-side trying to save their isolated property in Deadman Creek Rd at Coongbar, which backs on to Keybarbin State Forest in northern NSW.
The retired service station owner and the well-known local farmer married at the Casino courthouse just three years earlier after falling in love late in life.
Ms Hyde’s former husband, Archie, had lost his battle with dementia.
Mr Lindsay was a bit of a local hero after he famously used a broom handle to scare off a machete-wielding mug at Casino’s Liberty Service Station, which he used to own.
Friends said the couple, who had children from their earlier marriages, would not have stood a chance when the Long Gully Road fire roared through when the easterly winds picked up.
The fire had been burning since a lightning strike on September 5.
November 8, 2019
Vivian Chaplain, 69
Diehard
As the Kangawalla blaze tore through the tranquil Northern Tablelands community of Wytaliba, Vivian Chaplain called her daughter-in-law in a panic.
The 69-year-old, who had stayed behind to protect her home and animals, asked for her son and his father to help her fight the flames but they couldn’t get through.
“She was in an absolute panic. She said, ‘We're on fire. There's fire everywhere. I need the boys here now’,” daughter-in-law Chrystal Harwood said.
“We called the Rural Fire Service but they couldn’t get through either. We rang a friend who was in Wytaliba and he pushed through the fire to get to her.”
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The brave rescuer found Ms Chaplain unconscious near her shed, suffering burns to at least 40 per cent of her body. He put her in his ute and drove back through the flames where he met the RFS crew at the access bridge to the village.
The firefighters fought to save her life, performing CPR for several hours before she was flown to Concord Hospital where she died overnight.
She had moved to the area to live a peaceful, sustainable life on her own little piece of land and Ms Harwood paid tribute to her.
“She was amazingly strong and very stubborn,” she said. “We all knew she would have stood there with a hose trying to fight it and trying to save the animals.”
November 8, 2019
George Nole, 85
Diehard
George Nole was found dead in a burnt-out car at the Kangawalla fire zone.
The Greek-born Australian was an electronics genius who had worked on NASA’s Apollo missions but moved to the isolated village of Wytaliba to “be himself”, friends said.
The Wytaliba Mr Nole joined in the 1980s was a laid-back place popular with nudists.
He was a stalwart of the community, often riding his cycle around the village, and voted for the Sex Party.
“The 86-year-old had a sticker on his car which read ‘Sexy Senior Citizen’,” local Brett Miller said.
Mr Nole was known to attend parties in Lederhosen and was a “reclusive nudist”.
“There was a bell at the front of his house that you would ring to tell him you were coming,” Mr Miller said. “That would give him enough time to put some undies or something on.
“If you didn’t ring that and just went to the door, he would just open it and you would get the full view.”
Friends said Mr Nole had been diagnosed with leukaemia in 2014 and had been prepared to die.
November 8, 2019
Julie Fletcher, 63
Johns River
Julie Fletcher's body was found in her burnt-out home on November 10, two days after she died before she could escape the fast-moving fire bearing down on Wharf Rd, Johns River, between Port Macquarie and Taree.
Her family had once owned most of the property around Johns River where they ran dairy cattle, and neighbours said animal-lover Ms Fletcher loved her Angus cattle so much she could never sell them for slaughter.
“Her cows died old and happy,” her friend and neighbour Diny Khan, 63, said.
“She was just the most incredibly kind and thoughtful lady — what a horrible way to go.”
Ms Fletcher had sent her friend a message at 9.30pm on Friday November 8 saying she was packing her car and getting ready to go.
“The fire was so intense, it hit quickly and it was hard to tell where it was coming from.
“She obviously never made it out,” Ms Khan said.
November 8, 2019
Barry Parsons, 58
Willawarrin
Barry Parsons, 58, left a haunting Facebook post as the Carrai East fire bore down on the Willawarrin property, 34km northwest of Kempsey, where he lived alone in a shed.
“Seriously looks and sounds like apocalypse out there. F. ked up being on your own in these times,” Mr Parsons wrote.
Earlier that afternoon, he posted about the “hot and windy day”, noting there was “smoke everywhere” and wrote of the “Mandarin skies”.
“They must be EVERYWHERE,” Mr Parsons wrote.
“I wouldn’t have a CLUE which way to turn if the SHTF (s*** hit the fan).
“I swear it’s spooky as f***.”
His body was found five days later in burnt-out bushland not far from his shed where locals, who described him as a “kind and caring person”, said he would care for stray cats.
Australian Hemp Party president Michael Balderstone said Mr Parsons would occasionally drop in at the Nimbin hemp embassy.
“He was a lovely peaceful guy. He was just a lovely gentle guy,” he said.
November 9, 2018
Chris Savva, 64
South Arm
Chris Savva’s family has paid tribute to the grandfather who successfully defended his north coast home from the Kian Rd fire, only to find the wooden bridge — his only way out — destroyed by the flames.
The long-term resident of South Arm near Bowraville was found dead in his upturned SUV after it ran down an embankment when he had turned around to try and make it back home. He lived 18km outside town.
“He would have had a long night (defending his home). He was incredibly brave to have done that,” one of his daughters Bianca Waters, 36, said.
Of Greek-Cypriot heritage, Mr Savva had three children, three stepchildren and nine grandchildren.
“He was a doting father and his grandchildren were the apple of his eye. He was a wonderful man,” Mrs Waters said.
“He was incredibly kind and had a great sense of humour. He really was a hero.”
December 19, 2019
Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and Andrew O’Dwyer, 35
Buxton
The two young volunteer firefighters, best mates and fathers, Andrew O’Dwyer and Geoffrey Keaton, died in terrifying conditions battling the Green Wattle Creek fire near Buxton.
A burnt gum, the type sadly called widow makers, crashed onto the cab of their fire truck, killing them instantly and injuring the three crew in the back seat from the Horsley Park Rural Fire Brigade.
At their funerals, their young children Charlotte O’Dwyer, 18 months, and Harvey Keaton, 19 months, were told their dads had left only because they were heroes.
The toddlers were presented with their dads’ Commissioner's Commendation for extraordinary service and bravery — the highest accolade that can be given to NSW firefighters.
Mr Keaton had been at the wheel of the truck, Mr O’Dwyer next to him in the passenger seat, with smoke so thick they could barely see 50m ahead. They were travelling in convoy when the tree fell, forcing the vehicle to veer off the road and roll over in a culvert drain.
They were remembered as devoted dads who loved nothing better than swapping photographs and tales of their toddlers as they were both farewelled with full Rural Fire Service honours.
Mr O’Dwyer’s wife Melissa said: “The boys have always got each other’s back.”
Mr Keaton’s fiancee Jess Hayes said Geoff was “a super proud dad who did anything to help his family and friends”.
December 29, 2019
Male, 59.
Yarrowitch
A 59-year-old man died six weeks after he was winched to safety suffering severe burns from his rural property on Blomfields Rd at Yarrowitch, about 70km southeast of Walcha.
He was found on November 7 by a National Parks and Wildlife Services officer after he was seriously burnt taking shelter in a water tank, after staying to try and defend the property from the Stockyard Flat fire.
He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being flown by the Westpac rescue chopper to Port Macquarie Hospital and transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital for further treatment where he later died.
December 30, 2019
Samuel McPaul, 28
Jingellic
Father-to-be and volunteer firefighter Sam McPaul died when a freak fire tornado flipped his eight-tonne RFS truck at Jingellic, outside Albury on the southern NSW border.
He was with the Culcairn North West brigade as they fought to save properties along the Murray River and his crew had entered a paddock to round up cattle.
They were on flat ground, just 50m from the farm gate with little around them to burn. But the Green Valley fire was so large, it created its own weather system, known as a pyrocumulonimbus, whipping up 140kph winds. Two of his crew mates were injured.
Mr McPaul and his wife Megan had been married for 18 months and she was pregnant with their first child, due on May 4.
Culcairn fire captain Andrew Godde, who was in charge of the truck, described McPaul as a “ripping young bloke” who would always put others before himself.
”You hear people talk about these fireballs but I've never experienced anything like that before,” he said.
December 30, 2019
Robert Salway, 63, and son Patrick Salway, 29
Wandella
Well-known dairy farmers Robert Salway, 63, and his son, Patrick, described as “salt of the earth blokes”, died while trying to save their home and farming equipment from the raging Badja Forest fire tornado, which went on to destroy the main street of historic Cobargo.
They were found dead the following morning when Patrick’s mother Janelle Salway returned to the family farm called Ashwood at Wandeall, about 10km northwest of Cobargo in the Bega Valley.
Patrick, whose best-known saying was “It’ll be right” and his pregnant wife Renee, own a business called south coast Diary Tech where Patrick, a boilermaker and welder, looked after many local dairy farmers in the state’s south.
Renee and the couple’s little boy, Harley, left the property before the fires arrived.
She posted on social media shortly after their death and said that her family was “broken” as they dealt with the loss of the young father.
“I love you now, I love you still, I always have and I always will. I will see you again Patrick, my best friend,” she said.
In more tragedy for the family, within 30 hours of their death, Robert’s elderly mother Edna died without learning of her son and grandson’s fate.
December 31, 2019
Laurie Andrews, 70
Yatte Yattah
Laurie Andrews, 70, was found dead outside his home on Myrtle Gully Rd, Yatte Yattah, after the deadly Currowan bushfire swept through the area and neighbouring Conjola.
A former Shoalhaven Water site supervisor, Mr Andrews was a founding member of the Mollymook Longboarders and was remembered by his surfing mates as an “all round great bloke” and stylish surfer.
Police said his body had no trauma or significant burns, and they did not believe there were any suspicious circumstances involved.
December 31. 2019
Man, 56
Coolagolite
Paramedics discovered a 56-year-old man’s body outside a home at Coolagolite, near Cobargo where the massive Currowan blaze fires reduced properties to ash in just minutes. Neighbours said he was a loner who kept to himself.
December 31, 2019. Belowra
Col Burns, 72
Belowra
Volunteer firefighter Col Burns, 72, wasn’t on duty but he died protecting his own isolated property on Woila Creek Fitr at the head of the Belowra Valley from the out-of-control 64,000ha Badja Forest Rd fire near Cooma.
It was the same fire that flared in the east, hitting towns including Cobargo.
The isolated tiny hamlet of Belowra, with just nine residents, was ringed by fire and locals reported Mr Burns was unaccounted for. But it was several days before emergency services could get to him and his body was found.
January 1, 2020
Man, 75
Yatte Yattah
The body of a 75-year-old man was found shortly before 7.30am in a burnt-out car on a road off the Princes Highway at Yatte Yattah, near the fire ravaged community of Lake Conjola where 89 homes were lost.
January 1, 2020
Man, 62
Sussex Inlet
The body of a 62-year-old man was found in his car at Sussex Inlet on the state’s south coast where the road was burnt out and locals and holiday-makers had evacuated to the beach.
January 4, 2020
David Harrison, 47
Batlow
Mr Harrison died of a heart attack as he battled to save his best mate’s home from the Dunns Rd blaze that swept through the apple town. He had known Geoff Purcell since school and refused to leave him even at the urging of his three older brothers in Goulburn who had begged him to evacuate.
He told them that he and Mr Purcell had a plan to get out. Mr Purcell found his friend unconscious in his ute when he failed to return from a run to get water on the farm.
Mr Harrison’s brother Peter said he had no prior heart conditions.
“I just think he was overcome by heat, smoke, exhaustion, running around trying to put out spot fires everywhere,” Peter Harrison said.
“He’s a hero in our eyes. A great Aussie hero.”
He said David had never married or had children and lived alone on the family property in Goulburn.
But he was “hands down” the favourite uncle to his nine nieces and nephews. “He was infectious,” he said. “He’d walk in a room and you’d just smile.”
January 6, 2020
John Smith, 71
Nerrigundah
Mr Smith, who retired from Moruya TAFE, is believed to have died on New Year’s Eve fighting to save his property in the tiny community of Nerrigundah, inland from Bodalla, from the Badja Forest Road fire.
He had lost contact with his wife Josie and their daughter Emerald, 10.
His body was found on January 6, after police co-ordinated a large-scale land search and were able to access the property.
He was found dead between the property and a car, which had both been destroyed.
Emerald Smith had earlier used the Coles gift cards she had been given for her birthday to buy treats and make up goodie bags for members of the RFS Long Beach brigade on the south coast to take on their truck.
On every bag she wrote beautiful messages like: “Thank you for spending YOUR time for OUR lives".
January 18, 2020
Man, 84
Cobargo
A Cobargo man, 84, was remembered as a genuine “country boy” following his death after he suffered critical burns at his home in the bushfires that ripped through the town on New Year’s Eve.
It is believed he was trying to defend his property when he and his dog Bella were overrun by fire. He was taken to South East Regional Hospital before being transferred to Concord Hospital’s Burns Unit from which he was discharged.
He remained in the area for additional treatment and just after 2am on Saturday, January 18, he sought medical assistance after feeling unwell and later went into cardiac arrest.
Police said that despite the efforts of hospital staff, he could not be revived.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Dick Lang, 78, and son Clayton Lang, 43.
Kangaroo Island.
Bush pilot Dick Lang and his son, one of Adelaide’s most respected plastic surgeons, were found dead a day after fires ripped through Kangaroo Island on January 4. They were engulfed on their way back to the family property after a two-day battle to save it. Surviving son Derek said his father was a “force of nature”.
“I’m glad that he was able to live his life, doing what he loved on his terms,” he said.
Ron Selth, 69, Charleston
Ron Selth put up a valiant fight and went out in a blaze of glory, according to his friend Paul Edwards. The engineer tried to defend his Cudlee Creek, SA farm on December 20.
Mat Kavanagh, 43, Alexandra
Mat Kavanagh, a veteran of the Marysville inferno on Black Saturday, died in a ute crash on January 3. Brother Mike said: “He was kind and friendly to every person he met.”\VICTORIA
VICTORIA
David Moresi, 69, Johnsonville
Forest Fire contractor David Moresi died in a vehicle rollover at W Tree, Victoria on November 30.
Daughter Kelly Douglass said: “He was a really good and caring dad.”
Bill Slade, 60, Wonthaggi
Veteran firefighter and father of two, “Bushfire Bill” was killed by a falling tree at Anglers Rest, near Omeo, on January 11. “You gave us so much,” wife Carol said.
Mick Roberts, 67, Buchan
Larrikin great-grandfather Mick Roberts died defending his Buchan home on New Year’s Day.
“He believed you don’t run from anything,” niece Leah Parsons said.
Fred Becker, Maramingo Creek
Timber worker Fred Becker suffered a heart attack after defending his and neighbouring properties on New Year’s night. He was found inside his fire-ravaged home in Victoria.