Township ‘wiped off map’ as winemaker watches life’s work destroyed on live television
A false sense of security created by cooler temperatures has left residents of Victorian towns in the direct line of fire as it spreads.
Incredible vision from the fire front shows how painstakingly difficult fighting a raging bushfire can be.
The Metropolitan Fire Brigade shared footage from Garfield North, 68km southeast of the Melbourne CBD, where the Bunyip State Park fire raged out of control.
“This is what firefighters faced on the ground,” the MFB wrote.
This is what firefighters faced on the ground in Garfield North near #Bunyip yesterday, where MFB strike teams managed to save two homes and two granny flats from the #Vicfires. We're working closely with @CFA_Updates & @FFMVic crews to protect assets in the area @vicemergency pic.twitter.com/V2CCvoznFM
— MFB (@MFB_NEWS) March 4, 2019
Strong, swirling winds carried thick smoke across the path of the blaze as it jumped from tree to tree.
It was more of the same today, despite cooler temperatures. A fire is burning close to the town of Dargo, 350km east of Melbourne where a separate fire is threatening homes and businesses. Residents in Black Snake Creek, Cowa, Dargo, Hawkhurst, Miowera and Peter the Swede have been told it’s too late to leave and they must take shelter.
A staff member at the Dargo Hotel told the Herald Sun: “It’s like (the fire) is trying to surround us.”
RAIN, WINDS TO HIT VICTORIAN FIRE AREAS
Sweeping heavy rain and thunderstorms could both help and hinder fire crews battling blazes across Victoria.
A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for East Gippsland and North East districts — and could provide much relief to firefighters battling the blaze in Dargo.
The storm will bring strong winds and heavy rains and could lead to flash flooding in some areas.
But those battling the Bunyip fire may not see any relief until early on Wednesday morning, with the cool change predicted to arrive then. With the storms comesthe danger of dry lightning which could cause flare ups in areas already affected by the fire — and crews will be on high alert overnight.
BUSHFIRES THREATEN MORE HOMES
Emergency warnings are being updated by the minute as dozens of fires burn across Victoria.
There is currently a Watch and Act alert in place for a bushfire 1.6km south west of Dargo and two other located north west of Dargo.
The fire closest to Dargo has slowed, according to Vic Emergency.
Further warnings have been issued for Billabong, Black Snake Creek, Budgee Budgee, Cowa, Crooked River, Gibbs, Hawkhurst, Howittville, Maguires, Miowera, Peter the Swede, Shepherdson, Talbotville, Waterford, Winchester, Wongungarra.
A bushfire continues to burn out of control 6.5km southeast of Licola. The fire is active on all edges, and has already burnt about 17,000 hectares.
Ground crews and machinery are working to build firewalls to protect the township from the encroaching flames. Licola Road has been shut off to all unauthorised people.
A watch and act warning is active for people in Crookayan, Glencairn, Glenfalloch, Licola, Licola North, Sargood and Worrowing.
Firefighters in five vehicles are also responding to a small building fire in Carrums Down.
The fire are Bunyip State park is still burning out of control, travelling in a Westerly direction towards Beenak, Gembrook, Mount Burnett, Nar Nar Goon North, Pakenham Upper, Whites Corner.
These towns have been issued with a Watch and Act alert, and those who have left their homes have been told not to return.
Earlier today a Watch and Act alert was also issued for the areas around Avenel and Tarcome, with the advice that a fire was travelling towards Wicketts Hill Road.
Full information about the affected areas can be obtained by listening to local radio and viewing the Vic Emergency website.
ENTIRE TOWNSHIP ‘WIPED OFF THE MAP’
An entire township has been all but “wiped out” by devastating bushfires in Victoria’s southeast.
Tonimbuk, which borders Bunyip State Park, was in the direct path of a massive fire that swept through over the weekend.
A map of the area from the Country Fire Authority shows a large section of black over the township.
Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight is from Tonimbuk, 70km from the Melbourne CBD. He told 3AW radio this morning that he spent the weekend trying to protect the family property but “the place has just been wiped clean”.
Network 10 journalist Candice Wyatt tweeted: “It’s believed the township of Tonimbuk has been all but wiped off the map”.
It’s believed the township of Tonimbuk has been all but wiped off the map in the Bunyip State Park fires. The Jinks Creek Winery is destroyed, and my friend’s house.. and many others, have gone up in flames. @10Daily @10NewsFirst @10NewsFirstMelb #bunyipfire #gippsnews pic.twitter.com/AS7gFrzCBK
— Candice Wyatt (@CandiceWyatt10) March 3, 2019
At the last census, Tonimbuk was home to 208 people. Winemaker Andrew Clarke is among them.
As bushfires ripped through the region, he could do nothing but stare at a screen in horror and disbelief at what he was watching on live TV.
He was sat at a cafe with other relieved locals, who had managed to escape the inferno engulfing their homes when he saw the aerial footage of his Tonimbuk vineyard explode into a ball of flames.
The Jinks Creek Winery was not just his life’s work. It was his family home and also home to his horses.
He’d left it all behind late on Saturday and got out with his wife and kids. Mr Clarke even defied orders to rescue his two dogs, Blue and Pappy. But that was all he could do.
“We’re homeless,” Mr Clarke told The Australian, bleakly, after watching his life’s work go up in flames.
“It’s gone, the house too, it’s all gone. We’ve got horses, they’re probably dead.”
He told The Age he was the first winemaker to plant a vineyard in West Gippsland in the 1970s after he received the second-ever winemaking scholarship from the Victorian Wine Industry Association in 1979.
This is gut wrenching. In the areas showing as burnt on this map, I have seen Sooty Owl, Powerful Owl, White-throated Nightjar, Superb Lyrebird, Red-browed Treecreeper, Southern Emu-wren, Pilotbird, Beautiful Firetail and many others.... pic.twitter.com/E6BVQ067NT
— Sean Dooley (@Twitchathon) March 4, 2019
“I planted that winery myself and put the first vines in back in 1979,” he said.
“We’ve got a 130 million gallon (492 megalitre) dam and the water bombers were pulling water out of that, but we still lost everything.”
EERIE FOOTAGE INSIDE FIRE ZONE
The Doreen CFA shared a video from Bunyip State Park after the main front had passed on Saturday night. Footage, filmed on fireman Matt Stoneham’s dashcam, showed trees glowing in the dark as embers flew from either side of the vehicle.
Mr Stoneham told Fairfax it was a “hairy situation” and “hard to say what it feels like being out there”.
In the comments on the Doreen CFA Facebook page, users wrote that the vision was “quite beautiful” despite the tragedy.
Others shared their heartbreak at the loss of wildlife and their thanks to the firefighters for keeping the community safe.
“I feel so bad for all the poor animals,” Rak Phum wrote.
“Man, it looks like you’re exiting the gates of hell. Terrifying,” Megan Saddington wrote.
‘HUGE WALL OF FLAME’
As a wind change forced firefighters to work all night to contain a number of different fires, terrified residents described the horrific moments they were confronted by the inferno.
Evacuated Longwarry North resident Kiery-Anne Clissold told the BBC she watched a “huge wall of flame” coming for her home.
“It’s huge,” she said. “It’s frightening. It’s a monster.”
Despite cooler conditions expected today, firefighters may have to contend with dry lightning, which could start more fires.
The Bunyip State Park fire, burning 65km east of Melbourne, was sparked by lightning strikes on Friday and has destroyed more than 10,000 hectares.
“The risk of lightning redevelops in the late morning with the chance of some showers and thunderstorms,” Bureau of Meteorology’s senior forecaster Christie Johnson said.
While there was a chance of showers, it was hard to pinpoint where they would hit, and there would only be a few millimetres of rainfall, she said.
“It will be cooler and more humid on Monday which will help with the firefighting efforts,” she said.
But authorities were worried about a wind change forcing fires to change direction before they can be brought under control.
“We are certainly concerned with the change that’s going to come through … we know that will mean the eastern flank of the fire will become the head of the fire,” Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said on Sunday.
‘WORSE’ THAN BLACK SATURDAY FIRE
“The Bunyip fire is worse than one that burned in the same spot on Black Saturday,” the Country Fire Authority assistant chief officer Trevor Owen said.
“While it damaged some property (in 2009) it was a very narrow finger compared to what we’re facing with this fire because this fire has been growing,” Mr Owen told a community meeting in Pakenham.
More than 2000 firefighters were working to contain blazes around the state, he said.
There have been reports of a house and sheds destroyed at Tonimbuk, reportedly belonging to the Jinks Creek Winery, and Garfield North, but so far authorities have only been able to confirm three properties were lost in the blaze.
Two homes were also lost in the Budgeree-Wilsons Promontory fires, incident controller for those blazes, Peter West, told the ABC.
An emergency warning was issued for Yinnar South, with the blaze growing to more than 1500 hectares and significant spot fires.
A watch and act warning was in place for communities near Dargo and Licola in Gippsland but that was upgraded on Monday afternoon.
The hot and windy conditions are expected to linger until Wednesday when rain is expected to help firefighters.
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