THE SOUTH-EAST BUSHFIRES Houses and hopes reduced to ash - The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) - 18 Feb 1983 (original) (raw)

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Fri 18 Feb 1983 - The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995)
Page 7 - THE SOUTH-EAST BUSHFIRES Houses and hopes reduced to ash

in his utility van and looked out

at the charred remains of his

Tears welled in his eyes. He

lowered his head against the steer

He was one of the hundreds of

people to lose their homes — and

dreams — in the bushfires that

raged through the Gisborne-Mount

Macedon area about 55 kilometres

north-west of Melbourne on

People in the area had just

emerged from the hell that

bushfire brings about two weeks

ago when fire swept uncontrollably

through Mount Macedon for sever

This time the horror was relived

Mrs Eleanor Gray, 39, saw the

fire "dance" across the Macedon

railway station and down the main

Mrs Gray, and her husband,

Paul, 47, ran the newsagency and

post office in Victoria Street.

"I looked out the window and

saw the street clogged up with

people being evacuated," Mrs

Gray said. "The fire was coming up

the highway like a fireball. The

roar of the flames and wind was

"I asked as many as I could

inside. But we all had to be evac

uated to the hotel across the

More than 160 people, many of

them children, were herded into

the Macedon Family Club Hotel

while many of the men went out

side to keep flames off it.

"You've no idea how they fought

it. . . you've no idea," Mrs Gray

said. She burst out crying. A friend

of hers, Angie, came over and

"Angie, you can't believe how

brave they were," she said. "All I

could think of was that we were

going to be burnt if it wasn't for

those brave fellows outside."

No-one in the hotel was aware of

whether or not the threat was over

They had been told to keep away

from the windows, which were red

Sparks continuously sprayed the

room each time the door was

"You've no idea how they fought

it. .. . you've no idea. . . you

can't believe how brave they

were. ... All I could think of

was that we were going to be burnt

if it wasn't for those brave fellows

They remained in the hotel until

4am and then began to make their

way back along the roads with the

shocked realisation that most of

them would return to nothing.

Houses and shops next to and

right around the hotel were ashes.

The hotel, and everyone inside, was

At Geelong, hundreds of evac

uees crowded into the Barwon

Regional Red Cross headquarters,

many spilling onto the footpath.

Regional Red Cross spokes

woman Mrs Janet Thomson said

offers of help had flooded in and

the public response was heart

"Some people offering help have

been burnt out themselves and

know what it's like to lose

Anglesea residents Mr and Mrs

Paul Walters and their three young

sons were stunned. The family had

lost all their possessions in a house

fire just a few months ago.

"You lose all track of time," Mr

Teacher Graeme Johnstone, 37,

of the Melbourne suburb of North

Bayswater, was a busy but relieved

He had helped lead to safety 112

school children in his care at a

He said he was trying to get

word through to the parents, but it

He said he and 12 other staff had

led the children to safety by walk

ing to the Anglesea River.

The group was then taken to

The small township of Deans

March will long take pride in the

courage of Mr Stan Armistead.

The bushman, bulldozer driver

and father of seven was trapped

with his black kelpie bitch in the

fire and lived to go home to his

Trapped with him were the

crews of four fire tankers as flames

soaring 30 metres swept over them.

The tanker crews lived because

Mr Armistead jumped beneath

their truck, spraying them with

water all the time the fire burnt

Senior Constable Steve Wil

liams twice rode a motorcycle

through a wall of flames to get to

He was headed for Deans Marsh

from Lome when the fire ap

He turned to see a Telecom

worker in a utility following.

He motioned to the man to turn

back and as he spun the big police

motorcycle around there was a wall

"All I could do was to keep

going," he said. "I put my head

down and headed on. There was not

one wall of fire but two."

Constable Williams escaped but

as he emerged from the bush he

turned and waited, but the Tele

com man was not so lucky. His

body was later found in the bush