Megalong Valley bushfire: Residents vow to stay and fight
The Megalong Valley is fast filling up with smoke and water bombers, but the Collins family will stay and defend their home.
The Blue Mountains News
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The Megalong Valley is fast filling up with smoke and water bombers, but the Collins family has vowed to stay and defend their home.
“Our evacuation centre is in the middle of the paddock,” Melissa Collins said pointing to a cleared area behind the family home.
This is despite aerial firefighting in the valley ramping up in the last few hours after Rural Fire Service personnel spotted fire activity along Mitchells Creek in hard-to-access bushland bounding residential acreage properties.
The fire has so far not reached Megalong Road.
The Collins’ picturesque 700-acre property is located on flat land between the escarpment and Megalong Valley Road, and was once owned by Australian retailer Mark Foy who created the iconic Hydro Majestic hotel in Medlow Bath.
Their accommodation service, Foy’s Folley, is named after him as has the soaring escarpment as its backdrop, around which the Collins’ 50 head of beef cattle graze — including small calves.
“We don’t have trailers; if they’re clever cows hopefully they’ll go into the middle of paddock,” Mrs Collins said.
The paddock the cattle is in is on the other side of Megalong Road to where their owners reside.
She calmly says it’s not their first brush with bushfire.
“In December 2002 a bushfire ran around the back of the escarpment, licking the back of our property,” Mrs Collins recsalled.
“We had 15 trucks on our paddock pulling water out of our dam back then. The real worry is that the Hydro side of the valley hasn’t gone up in 100 years.”