Email your Ash Wednesday story to Derryn Hinch
Mike Jones, Wallan Fire Brigade:
On Ash Wednesday. I arrived home from work at 3.30.The Wallan C F A listening set was calling me to the fire station. Within no time I and three other mates with the Southern Hume strike team were on our way to Gisborne. From Gisborne we were dispatched to the fire. The fire was still west of Bullengarook .Before we new it the fire was on us my tee-shirt under my overalls was burning from the wind pushing sparks. We turn around as we had passed a number of homes we arrived to late to safe some of them. We became separated from our strike team we spent the night on our own as the radio was jammed with radio traffic. Thought out the night we help save many homes, also we had problems finding water, we had to push our truck as the alternators had stopped working.
Elizabeth Faulkner:
Memories of Ash Wednesday began on February 1st when fire swept down through our property Braemar Park on the South side of Mt macedon with a wind change around 5pm. Both houses were saved and livestock safely put in open areas with little feed to burn. It was a horrific and scary 24 hours with the loss of stables, yards, & many fences. We were getting under way clearing debris, opening driveways from fallen trees and patrolling paddocks regularly night & day for new outbreaks of which there were many. On the afternoon of Feb’ 1st refencing was starting, it was a hot howling wind over us & we learned a fire had started at Trentham, not thinking much about it for a while it seemed so far away. However the front was travelling so fast we were advised to make ready once more. By nightfall found me with a truckload of stabled horses to Kyneton out of immediate danger. Driving down the Romsey Rd the sight & sound of the Mountain on fire & Black Forest sawmill exploding still makes me cold as I write about it. The horses were left in the truck for the night & I sat with them, the glow of fires not far away. In the morning & no danger to Kyneton itself the horses were unloaded & left at friends stables. I drove home to be stopped by police along the Romsey Rd, trying to stop me proceeding further up the road, but when I explained I had to get back, having a Husband & son on the farm. Driving in to find they were ok was a huge relief. Luckily for us & many others the first fire made us a reasonable fire break & saved many lives on the Mountain giving people an escape route down Straws Lane to safety.
To this day I cannot watch any footage of fires, knowing what people have gone thru.
Terry Yeo:
Along with so many others, Ash Wednesday will be etched in my mind for ever – from a slightly different perspective!! We were staying in Singapore at the time, with my husband’s family, turned on the television news and Melbourne was on fire!! It was horrific – from the film footage shown in Singapore it looked like everything was on fire – from Mt. Macedon to the city!! We went into panic mode, rang home, cut our journey short & returned home thinking the half of Victoria had burnt down!! When we returned to our house in North Carlton , which had been securely locked up, everything inside was covered in a thick layer of black soot that had got under doors/windows. So severe were the fires!! Who would have thought - we certainly didn’t - that we would now live at Hanging Rock with a spectacular view of the Mount. A day never goes past that I am not grateful for having the opportunity of living in such a beautiful area and each time I travel over the Mount and down Mt.Macedon Rd. I cannot imagine what it must have been like!!
Neal Zschech:
Thought I would drop you a line about my recollection of the Ash Wednesday fires. I was 14 at the time and lived in Hamilton in the western district of Victoria. My school was on the outskirts of town and i remember watching out the classroom window as the fires came across the countryside. School was let out early and when i got home my father put my brother and myself onto the back of a CFA tanker. We spent the rest of the day and all night on the tanker fighting the fires.Several people in the district were also killed. Over the next couple of weeks all around the district I saw piles of dead sheep and dozens of mass graves being dug for stock, this is something I will never forget. Let's hope it never happens again.
Lyn Harrison:
My recollection of this horrific day is a bit different to the ones I have just read on the website but none the less very real to me and will stick in my memory forever. I was at home in Keilor with my two children aged 2 & 4 at the time and I was listening to the radio relaying the events that were unfolding in the Adelaide Hills in SA where the reporter was describing watching his own home burn to the ground, when they suddenly switched to Mt Macedon. I can still hear the terror in your voice Darren and it gives me goose bumps even now thinking about it. It was a very hot day so I thought, to get some relief from the heat and the radio, I would take the kids outside for a swim. On stepping outside we were confronted with a blood red sky and soot and ash falling all around us. There were burning leaves dropping into our above ground pool. It was eerie and very scarey. I could only imagine what it was like up on the Mt. We went back inside only to find out that now Lorne, Anglesea & surrounding areas were ablaze. It did feel like the whole of Victoria was ablaze. I remember feeling very helpless and useless and could only imagine what those poor people closest to the fires were going through. I remember ringing my husband who was going to some big boxing event in Melbourne that night and him reassuring me that there wasn't a lot I could do but to stay inside and turn the radio & TV off so I wouldn't distress the kids. We had a caravan down at Torquay & I wanted to go and get it which was quite ridiculous to even think about such a thing, considering what other people lost. Of course my husband told me how crazy that idea was. My heart went out to and still goes out to all those people who lost something, everything or someone on that horrendous day in 1983. Can't believe it is 25 years.
Keith King, former Duty Airport Manager TAA Melbourne Airport:
My memories of Ash Wednesday are from a different angle. I wanted to assist in some way but had no fire fighting skills to go to the face of the fires so decided to jump in and volunteer to assist the 3AW Appeal at 382 Latrobe Street. I took 2 weeks leave from TAA where I worked as Airport Duty Manager and with the support of yourself, John Blackman, Bruce Mansfield and David Mann worked on the front reception desk with Di White every day for 14 days collecting money and goods. We collected an enormous amount of money, food, clothing, but one of the most moving moments came when a lady handed me a hand crocheted baby shawl that was absolutely beautiful. The lady explained that her baby had passed away and that she would like to donate this shawl with all all the love that came from every stitch she put into hand making it. It was to be the christening shawl for her baby. She handed the shawl to me and then turned and walked away. I remember very clearly that I looked at Di and she looked at me and we both had tears running down our faces. This was a very moving moment and to me typified how much Melbournians supported and helped each other. I have never forgotten that moment.