Dad tells of brave mission to rescue son and friends

Eleven hikers who ventured in to Croajingolong National Park for a wilderness walk on Sunday were met with pristine weather. They had no clue about the blazing bushfire that was set to rip through just hours later.

The group of hikers were set to tackle the three-day Wingan Inlet-Mallacoota wilderness walk before being rescued.

First there was just a wisp of smoke, then a huge mushroom cloud billowing over the Croajingolong National Park.

But 11 hikers who had ventured in to the park to tackle the three-day Wingan Inlet-Mallacoota wilderness walk were oblivious to the blazing bushfire that would rip through just hours later.

Bryan Hartas dropped his 35-year-old son Jordan and 10 mates near the inlet on Sunday, in “pristine” weather.

Eleven hikers are rescued at Red River.

The experienced bushwalkers planned to bunker down at Red River for their first night.

But as he arrived back in Mallacoota about an hour and a half after dropping the group off, Mr Hartas received the shocking alert that a fire was bearing down on the park.

Returning by road was no longer an option, while a police officer warned a rescue by boat would be too dangerous.

But Mr Hartas and mate Dale Winward agreed they could not just abandon the group.

“It was my son and other kids out there,” he said.

“We thought bugger it, we’re going.”

The group of hikers are rescued by Bryan Hartas and Dale Winward after starting the Wingan Inlet-Mallacoota walk.

The courageous pair fuelled two boats — a 6m cruise craft and 5m fishing vessel — and set off along the coast towards the firestorm.

With the billowing smoke from the blaze blocked by dense parkland, the hikers still had no clue of the imminent danger when Mr Hartas began waving and whistling at them from his boat.

Soon after, they were wading into the water, carrying hiking packs over their heads, before jumping in the rescue boats and being shuttled to safety.

Mr Hartas said he “doesn’t have the words” to thank Mr Winward.

“Dale took great risk to do what he did,” he said.

But Mr Winward, a born and bred local who runs Mallacoota Tours, said there was no other choice.

“They had to come out, otherwise they wouldn’t have survived,” he said.

“Anyone would have done the same thing. When something like that happens, you just go and don’t think for another second.”

The dramatic boat rescue is just one of several stories emerging of incredible bravery and generosity from fire fronts across the state.

Robert Logie only has his dog and the clothes on his back.

The pub and bakery in Swifts Creek, in the Tambo Valley, have been making up to 400 meals a day to feed exhausted firefighters.

Swifts Creek resident Jane Bowles said the young couple who owned the bakery “never seem to sleep”, making hundreds of lunches packed into eskies and sent to the front lines.

“These guys are doing it at times by head lamp in sweltering conditions because the power keeps going out,” she said.

“They’re struggling with supplies because the roads keep getting closed.

“These are the unsung heroes.”

Exhausted police on Wednesday rested in a concrete carpark, one using a garden bed kerb as a headrest, while a firefighter was snapped in Buchan on Tuesday laying flat on a park bench.

And when CFA trucks from the devastated town rolled back into Lakes Entrance yesterday, people lined the streets to applaud.

Robert Logie watched his house of 42 years burn to the ground on Monday.

Alanna Willcox praised partner Colin Eaton, who rushed to defend his friend’s Sarsfield home just 10 minutes after getting home from clearing vegetation around Barmouth Spur fire on Monday.

He did not even have time to take off his boots before the call for help came.

“The next few hours seemed to stretch on and on as the sky turned glowing red in the middle of the night,” Ms Willcox said.

When Mr Eaton finally fell into bed about 3.30am, he was “delirious with exhaustion mumbling something about chafe and a shower”.

He slept for the next 16 hours before heading back to help friends whose home was destroyed.

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In Reedy Flat, northwest of Buchan, Robert Logie saved his elderly pooch Flash by sheltering in a dam on Monday.

What started as a small grass fire developed into a wall of flames, destroying the 55-year-old’s house and ute.

“I lost so much, all I have is these filthy clothes and the dog,” he said.

Mr Logie said another blaze just a few weeks earlier had come within 300m of his home.

He is now staying at a family property in Ensay, where there was a watch and act warning in place last night.

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