Sarsfield homes destroyed by out-of-control East Gippsland fire
A single father said his three sons were struggling to process the fact the family’s 22ha property, which operated three businesses, had been destroyed by raging bushfires.
VIC News
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Flower farmer Myles Nichols is grappling with a natural disaster destroying his home for the second time.
He and his three boys were victims of Cyclone Larry in 2006, which destroyed their Far North Queensland home.
Monday’s bushfires burnt his 22ha Sarsfield property to the ground.
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He flew in from Brisbane on Wednesday morning at 1am, cutting a family holiday short to assess the damage.
“The farm looks like it’s ground zero,” he said.
“We found out we lost everything. There’s nothing left. It’s just charcoal, unless I go into the charcoal business, don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Mr Nichols was keeping a positive attitude.
“We’ve been down this path before” he said. “We will rebuild. We didn’t lose life, we didn’t lose family heirlooms, it’s just stuff.”
Mr Nichols runs three businesses at the site which all rely on the land and none will be able to operate for the foreseeable future.
“It will take three to five years to get a commercial yield for the flower farm and make a profit but we will bounce back,” he said.
“The house was fully furnished.
“There’s a lot of stuff gone.”
The former soldier took relief in the fact he was fully insured but said it was a long road ahead.
Mr Nichols spent 23 years as a specialist in the Australian Defence Force.
His sons were devastated at the damage.
A temporary donation centre has been set up at Lucknow Memorial Hall, which has been flooded by generous locals wanting to donate to the victims of the bushfires.
Volunteer Wendy McPhan set it up.
“You’ve got to help people,” she said.
“I have lived here all my life and I just wanted to help.”
The centre was today a hive of activity with thousands of locals donating clothes, food, vouchers and money to those who needed it.
COUPLE FIGHT ON
Les Anderson already knew he was in for the fight of his life this week.
The 66-year-old started radiation treatment for cancer on Monday.
But when he returned home from therapy, another battle began.
Mr Anderson had only 45 minutes to pack a lifetime of memories from his Sarsfield home with wife Sandi.
Hours later, it burned to the ground.
“It is not a real good time for us,” Mr Anderson told the Herald Sun. “It is devastating at the moment, it is all happening at once, but we will pull through.”
The couple’s 9ha
property did not survive Monday night’s inferno.
“There were flames bloody everywhere,” Mr Anderson said. “You just had to get out. It was catastrophic.”
Mr Anderson faces five days a week of radiation treatment for the next six weeks.
His oncologist gave him Wednesday off so he could visit what remains of his home.
Although the damage was done, he grabbed a hose and put out small fires.
“I don’t know why, it made me feel a bit better,” Mr Anderson said.
The couple will stay at their son’s home and are awaiting an assessment from their insurer.
THE POWER CUT SAVED OUR LIVES
Jilly and Mel Brown had big dreams for their newly renovated Sarsfield home.
The 125-year-old manor had double-vaulted ceilings, exquisite gardens and was a flourishing wedding venue and Airbnb listing, Ms Brown said.
But all their hard work and hopes were crushed on Monday when the bushfire destroyed everything.
“There is literally nothing left,” Ms Brown said.
The last guests had left just 48 hours before the flames took hold. The couple had evacuated to the Bairnsdale refuge centre on Monday morning after heeding official warnings, but returned to the property that night believing the threat had passed.
“We were having a wine in the orchard,” Ms Brown said.
“It was getting late and we went inside and suddenly the power went out,” she said.
Mr Brown went outside to see what was going on and it was then he saw the fire. “If the power hadn’t gone out, we wouldn’t be here,” she said.
The couple raced to their car, shoeless, and fled back to town as the flames took hold. The grand oak trees lining the long driveway only fuelled the raging inferno.
“I’m not sure what we’ll do,” Ms Brown said. “But things could have been worse, we’re still here.” They were embraced by Premier Daniel Andrews on Wednesday as he toured East Gippsland.
CONFRONTING INFERNO
In a cruel twist of fate, Nathan Fowler and Catherine Murphy lost their home, but the inferno which ripped through Sarsfield spared their hay shed.
The young couple returned to their property on Tuesday to find it had been transformed into a pile of twisted metal.
But the couple, both 33, said they made the right call to leave and were thankful to have escaped with their lives.
Ms Murphy, a schoolteacher, said it was “a bit confronting” to see the remains of her home.
“We were warned, we are just glad we got out and we got the animals out,” she said.
“They did a really good job of telling everyone, without that we would have been stuffed.
Somehow the shed survived and it is full of hay. It is what it is.
“You just hope your insurance will be nice and fair, that is our main concern now.”
But the defiant couple said they would keep on persevering.
“I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet,” Mr Fowler said.
Selfless CFA volunteer Mark Sykes was out battling ferocious bushfires just hours before his own home burnt to the ground.
It was one of at least 19 buildings, mostly homes, that were destroyed by bushfires in the close-knit community of Sarsfield, 19km northeast of Bairnsdale.
Locals and CFA volunteers endeavoured to save homes from the relentless flames but a strong wind change about 10pm Monday night meant nothing could be done.
Mr Sykes, a father-of-two, was out fighting the Clifton Creek fire and then helped save his neighbour’s home ahead of protecting his own.
He has volunteered with the CFA for 15 years and said Monday was a “pretty horrific” day.
“It has totally destroyed my house,” he told the Herald Sun.
“I tried to defend it, but you can’t do it by yourself. We were hoping something would be left, even a shed, but there’s nothing.
“My kids have lost their Christmas presents. We’re upset, disappointed.”
While his wife Sandra and two children, aged 10 and 12, had already evacuated, he and his brother stayed in the region to help fight the savage fires.
“When bad days happen, you go and try to help fight the fires,” he said. “The fire moved so fast.”
He returned to his home around 9pm; by 10pm it was gone.
“The wind picked up, you heard it roaring and big columns starting coming out of it,” he said. “I said to my neighbour ‘you’re in trouble’ but I stayed and tried to help him. The rest is history.”
The family had lived in their home on the Great Alpine Road for nine years and said finding a home to rent was going to be a “serious problem”.
Adding to their devastation, Mr Sykes is a self-employed builder and has lost most of his tools.
“We will move on, the world will go around again,” he said.
Lachlan Molnar and his girlfriend Hailey McAlpine returned to Sarsfield yesterday to find their home and cars razed.
“We thought there was no chance that it survived,” Ms McAlpine said.
“We tried to get water everywhere as much as possible … we turned the sprinklers on and dampened everything but it didn’t help.
“(Returning today) was very overwhelming.
“It was just a bit crazy for it to settle in and realise that there are so many people who are basically homeless now.”
Sarsfield resident Joe Rettino said a drive through the town on Tuesday left him “lost for words”.
“One house, there was just a chimney left, at another a hayshed still on fire.
“I am feeling sick.”
The ferocious fire came within metres of another Sarsfield house, burning a car, shed and hectares of bush but stopped short of the home.
The owners’ had earlier evacuated to Bairnsdale but the grateful family believe brave firefighters kept the flames at bay.
The couple’s daughter, Wendii Carter, told the Herald Sun that the family felt “very lucky”.
She posted a remarkable photo of the close call online as a “picture of hope and the good deeds of the fireys”.
“I just can’t believe that the house didn’t burn,” Ms Carter said. “I think the fireys ended up on the property. What they do is amazing.”
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Sarsfield resident Corey Kennedy’s home luckily escaped the wrath of the fires.
“The trees were exploding, it was hectic,” he said.
“I was pretty upset leaving. I made a beeline and thought whatever happens, happens.
“It’s going to be sad when everyone comes back.”
Many fires were still smouldering in the area and will continue to do so in coming days as crews try to contain them.
Bruthen resident Aaran Lambourn said the fire came 2km from Main Street, where he lives.
“I didn’t think it would come so close, it was a bit of a scare,” he said. “When it started spreading it was kind of daunting, everyone was on edge.”
Originally published as Sarsfield homes destroyed by out-of-control East Gippsland fire
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