Victoria fires: Crown land growth ‘fuelled’ blazes

High fuel loads on vacant­ crown land contributed to the feroci­ty of the blaze that devastated a community, residents say.

The remains of the Jinks Creek Winery, Tonimbuk. Picture: Mark Stewart.

Residents of a small rural community heaviest hit by Victoria’s weekend bushfires believe dan­g­er­ously high fuel loads on vacant­ crown land contributed to the feroci­ty of a blaze that left Country Fire Authority firefighters unable to defend some properties.

The quiet hamlet of Tonimbuk, about 90km east of Melbourne, felt the brunt of the fire crisis, with seven properties destroyed and 11,000ha burnt by a lightning-strike blaze that raced out of the Bunyip State Forest.

Andrew Clarke, the owner of the Jinks Creek Winery destroyed by the Bunyip fire, believes a bureaucrati­c blunder cost him his life’s work.

He said a planned burn-off in 60ha between his vineyard and the state park was not done because of concerns for local birdlife.

“If they’d been doing the burning off they should have been doing, our place might still be there,’’ he told The Australian.

“They told me birds were nesting. I told them: ‘If we don’t do a burn-off now, there’ll be no birds. There’ll be no goannas, no snakes, no wallabies. They’ll all be bar­becued.’’

Another Tonimbuk resident, cartoonist Mark Knight, said some residents were left to defend their homes without assistance from the CFA. “We fought this fire for three days on our own,’’ he said. “Black Saturday they were all over us. They were fantastic. We didn’t see them this year.’’

Mark Knight with his sons Jack & Elliott, in Tonimbuk, managed to save their property after a bushfire engulfed the Bunyip state forest in Victoria. Picture: Stuart McEvoy.

A spokesman for the CFA said: “There are more than 2000 emergency services personnel currently working on multiple fires across the state. We can’t have a firetruck on everyone’s doorstep and we prioritise accordingly.”

Rex Newton, 70, returned to his Tonimbuk home and wildlife refuge­ yesterday to find it burnt to the ground. He said he was near the rear of his property when he saw fire race over a hill towards his back door. “I only have the clothes on my back and it isn’t that nice a shirt,’’ he told the ABC as he sifted through ash and twisted metal. By the time he managed to load his dog, cat and cockatoo and jump into a car, the fire had singed the hair on his arms.

Rex Newton, 70, surveys the remains of his Bunyip North home of 40 years. Picture: Mark Stewart

Firefighting resources have been stretched to breaking point, with crews tackling almost 20 significant­ fires across the state. Although the crisis had abated last night, emergency services were bracing for the impact of a viole­nt weather change expected to bring strong winds, lightning strikes and possibly snow to some of the same alpine areas scorched by fire.

A Forest Fire Management Victoria spokesman, when asked why fuel reduction burning had not been carried out on the crown land next to the Bunyip State Park, said that under a change to fire risk management, burning had become­ more targeted.

“We are using a risk-reduction target to focus our fuel-management strategies on areas that will have the greatest impact,’’ the spokesman said. “This target means we are burning smarter, rather than focusing on a number-of-hectares target.

“In some cases this may mean less planned burns — in other areas it may mean more — but communities can be assured that our activities are focused on making them safer and protecting their local environment.’’

The immediate threat shifted yesterday from Tonimbuk to the alpine town of Dargo, where the small community was at one point menaced by two bushfires.

Leanne Estcourt said from insid­e the historic Dargo Hotel that the town was encircled by smoke, with the skies glowing lumin­ous orange. Some town residents sought shelter in the pub.

“We have got some people that are here that the fires are affecting their properties as we speak,’’ Ms Estcourt said. “It is pretty stressful when you don’t know the situation and how bad it is.”

By late afternoon, the threat to properties in Dargo had eased, althoug­h the fires were not under control.

The Tonimbuk fire was the worst to hit the area since Black Saturday 10 years ago, when a fire which began in the Bunyip State Park destroyed 31 houses and burnt more than 26,000ha.

Graeme Moore, the Mayor of Cardinia Shire, which takes in Tonimbuk, said his community had been hammered by the fire but praised the CFA.

Additional reporting: Tessa Akerman