NSW Bushfires: Little Forest residents face rebuilding after Currowan fire
Dr Ruth Myers and her family did all the right things to make sure their home would survive the recent bushfires but the ferocity of the Currowan blaze gave it no chance.
The South Coast News
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Despite all the best survival plans, including a sprinkler system, petrol-powered pumps, a cleared zone around the property and an inspection by the Rual Fire Service, Dr Ruth Myers lost her home in the devastating Currowan bushfire.
The property, on Little Forest Road in Little Forest, had been well prepared and the family had done all the right things but the ferocity of the fire gave it no chance, as it burned down and was reduced to rubble on New Year’s Eve.
“We were going to be the house to support other people (with all the correct preparation we had carried out in anticipation of the fire),” Dr Myers said.
“To be the people (who lose their home), it was a blow to who we consider ourselves.”
Earlier that day, with their sons, 12 and 16, safe with friends, Dr Myers followed their plan and evacuated with their three labradors and caravan to Mollymook.
Her husband, Lloyd McDonald, remained at the home with a friend but had to leave as the intense radiant heat and fierce flames engulfed the property.
Both Dr Myers, a popular GP in Jervis Bay, and her husband are actively involved in the amateur theatre group Milton Follies.
The Currowan fire, which burnt for more than two months and tore through almost 500,000 hectares, crowned in the treetops below their property.
“We didn’t get the ember attack, we got the crowning, air catching on fire type,” Dr Myers said.
Mr McDonald and his friend left the home and drove to a clearing about a kilometre away, hoping they could return to protect the property once the firefront passed.
However, Dr Myers said her husband told her the fire was so ferocious, ‘dirt was lighting up (at the house)’.
“Trying to do anything more was risking life and limb,” she said.
That same day, Dr Myers’s neighbours Graham and Cathy Humphries also packed their things ready to leave in a hurry.
While Mr Humphries said he also tried to defend his property, he lasted just 30 seconds with a hose before the radiant heat became too much.
“It was the perfect storm,” he said. “Ferocity, heat. Walls and windows were on fire and big lumps of embers were hitting the house. It was like throwing mud at a brick wall.”
Both families lost their homes to the same firefront and were forced into emergency accommodation.
On New Year’s Day, Mr Humphries started the cruel clean up and had friends from Canberra help demolish the site and a South Coast business removed the sorted debris.
It was cleared by mid-January and he plans to move into his liveable shed by this week.
In three weeks, he will have a builder start on his new home with an eye to finish in October.
However, next door, the rubble remains and the family of four are still waiting to hear from contractor Laing O’Rourke.
Dr Myers and her husband have received their insurance, but they have not received word on when their home will be cleaned-up.
“We would love a phone call,” she said.
The wheels are turning on a rebuild - they have got a surveyor’s report and spoken with draftsman but it’s a slow process.
Mr Humphries showed Dr Myers his plans and outlined that their blocks would have to meet Bushfire Attack Level 29 (BAL) standards, which measures the severity of a building’s potential expose to ember attack, radiant heat and direct flame, and the materials used needed to be able to withstand any potential bushfire attack.
Dr Myers said their rebuild plans would meet a BAL 40 standard - very high risk of bushfire.
She also said she questioned the governments’ and businesses’ approach to man-made climate change, which in turn made them question where they want to live.
“Are we being Muppets building in an area at risk of fire?” she said.
“It turns out we still want to live rurally. If the dream house came up tomorrow we would buy it, but it’s not out there (so we have to rebuild).”