Heroic dad goes missing amid the chaos
FOR several heart-breakingly tense hours last night, Tess Brunton feared she had lost her father to the horror bushfire roaring through her hometown.
NSW
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FOR several heart-breakingly tense hours last night, Tess Brunton feared she had lost her father to the horror bushfire roaring through her hometown.
Paul Brunton, 59, went missing as the flames swept through suburban streets, after he selflessly went back into the danger zone to check on the welfare of his elderly neighbours.
Mr Brunton left the “safer” area of Kianinny Bay, where he had earlier headed away from the fire to join his own parents, to go and lend assistance near Bay St where the fires were spreading.
He did not have a mobile phone and land lines had been cut.
“There are two halves of Tathra and he went to the safe side away from the fire with my Nanna and my Pa,” Ms Brunton said.
“But then he left after deciding to check on our older neighbours who he was worried about.”
Ms Brunton said that in the time her father was gone, the RFS came through the area and evacuated it entirely.
“While he was gone a member of the rural fire service came careering down the hill and told everyone to evacuate from the bay because the water wasn’t a safe option,” she said.
“They said the heat coming from the fire was so hot that it might boil them if they tried to go into the water to escape, and the bush was surrounding them — so staying there wasn’t an option.”
►Up to 35 homes, school lost in coastal fire catastrophe
►‘They’re all in tears, they have lost everything’
►Desperate calls to mum, alone at home in Tathra
Ms Brunton launched a social media campaign from her home in Tasmania to find her dad, putting out a call for anyone who had seen him to contact her.
Late last night she got the news she had desperately hoped for: Mr Brunton was OK.
He responded to one of her frantic emails to say he was safe at home but the fire had been “intense”.
Meanwhile, other heroic stories of survival began to emerge last night including people who escaped the flames by running for kilometres along the beach.
Kate Roberts said on Twitter that she used the beach shoreline to escape Tathra and get to Bermagui, where helpful people picked her up in their car.
“No idea if our car in caravan park OK, but main thing is we are,” she said.
TRYING TO FIND SOMEONE?
Police have set up a Public Information and Inquiry Centre to help people searching for information about family in the Tathra area.
People can call 1800 227 228.
Police have also warned the public to not travel to the area and avoid dangers such as damaged power lines and the possibility of asbestos in fire-damaged properties.