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Fire plan helped save property

When monstrous fires ripped through Victoria’s Northeast last January, Honor and Mark Auchinleck activated their bushfire plan and it paid off. Find out how here.

Mark and Honor Auchinleck’s property at Towong after last summer's devastating fires.
Mark and Honor Auchinleck’s property at Towong after last summer's devastating fires.

When monstrous fires ripped through Victoria’s North East last January, Honor and Mark Auchinleck could only hope their years of preparation would be enough to protect themselves and their property.

Honor and Mark, a CFA brigade member, own 485ha south of Towong, where they run up to 300 Angus breeders.

“We’ve owned the property since 1998, though with Mark serving in the British Army we didn’t actually return to Australia until 2009,” Honor said.

“Initially we had sprinklers installed on the roof and around the perimeter of the garden, then augmented our solar pump with a diesel unit to take water from the river to a 110,000-litre tank above the house.”

Mark said their plan was always to stay as long as possible, but “our landline, internet and mobile phones were gone and family members were urging us to leave”.

“When we knew fire was inevitable, we started moving wood from the shed to the lagoon and outdoor furniture into the shed,” he said.

“We soaked the veranda, set up an oscillating hose in the skillion and laid soaker hoses on 30m of grass in front of the house.

“We then packed our belongings, moved the cattle to the river flats and, when the last road from Corryong closed, left to stay with friends at Gundowring.”

Honor and Mark’s farm manager, Paul Nugent, from Biggara, took charge, turning off sprinklers that evening to conserve water and using his tractor and rotavator to make a fire break below the house.

Mark and Honor Auchinleck’s bushfire plan helped save their property from last summer's devastating fires.
Mark and Honor Auchinleck’s bushfire plan helped save their property from last summer's devastating fires.

He then returned the following morning to turn the sprinklers back on.

The couple came back two days later to find their house a green oasis surrounded by black, but found they’d lost several kilometres of fencing, their hay shed and its contents, 85 per cent of their pasture and all their silage.

“Lessons we learned included not keeping a woodpile outside the fence after ours caught fire and to have more fuel on hand for the pump and vehicles,” Mark said.

“We’ve also decided to fit another firefighting outlet to one of our house tanks and replace wooden barge boards with Colorbond.”

Honor said the support they received from friends and the community was wonderful, with donations of hay and offers of agistment.

“Fire is so unpredictable,” she said. “We did our best, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be lucky.”

Original URL: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/fire-plan-helped-save-property/news-story/415c86a479b237904d020be2eee17e37