BLACK SATURDAY IN KINGLAKE
l hardly know where to start with this page, but l will try and put down some of the events that my family went through that day and the months following.
Even now writing this brings me to tears.
As you all know the temperatures were expected to hit 45degrees and very windy after a few weeks of very hot days many of them reaching 40 degrees, all of the newcasts on TV and the radio were predicting an extreme bushfire danger day.
l arrived home from work at 8.30am with no plans to go out, the day was already very hot and extremely windy,throughout the day l hosed down some of the horses to keep them cool, we started to see a very large cloud of smoke coming from both sides of our property, we checked the CFA, DSE websites and listened to the radio,
nothing was mentioned to make us worry, the fire was in Kilmore, an hour away, and the other smoke was coming from a mill in Murrindindi, which after l rang someone in the area was told it was under control (this proved not to be true as this fire continued to Marysville)
My husband Steve had already got out our generator to make sure that everything would be working incase we needed it.
The winds were so feirce that my float took off on its own and ploughed into a gate.
At approx 4pm we get a hysterical call from my husbands sister coming home from Whittlesea to Kinglake, not far out of Whittlesea she drove straight into the fire as it crossed the road, Steve screamed at her to turn around, which luckily she did driving back through the fire burning her face as her window was open, but thankfully surviving. l look for my 17yo son Nathan, who has gone to work at the Fish and chip shop on his pushbike, l find his boss bringing him home, they lose their house which is just near their business.
Okay we know that the fire is coming, but we have no understanding of how fast this fire is going, still nothing on the internet or radio, then we lose power and our phone lines, Steve has gone to the Kinglake lookout and is horrified by what he sees coming, he is very lucky to make it back with the fire right behind him.
Meanwhile back at the house l have put water out all around the house with towels and mops and have put on appropriate clothes, l step out of the house and l am absolutely terrified by what l hear, it is the roar of the fire and it is deafening, l could not desribe it properly but it puts fear in your heart.
Steve had been gone only 15mins but he was not back and l was scared l did not know how to start the generator, then Steves nephew turns up with his girlfriend,
they live near the Kinglake town towards St Andrews, they have fled their burning house, l am horrified, as Steve is not back and went to town 3klms from us.
Then he turns up, does not say anything but gets the generator going so that we can put water on the house.
l have made 12yo Riannah stay in the house with the dogs, puppies and cats.
She does not want to be on her own, Riannah and Nathan both beg to go, they are terrified, another friend turns up his house is also burning, he asks if we want to go with him, the kids scream yes, we decide to stay as we have a water bore and are not surrounded by trees.
l am worried about the horses but there is nothing that l can do but hope for the best.
It is very hard to breathe now as the smoke is so thick, everything has turned black
and you cannot see in front of you at all, l can hear the horses running, but l cannot see them, l hope that they do not run into the fences. The sound is still deafening, we are being hit with many large alight embers, and all of a sudden Nathan screams out that there is fire in our paddock, Nathan and l rush to put water on it while Steve keeps the water on our house and the surrounds, the fire moves quickly along our fenceline bordering our property setting our fence on fire but luckily the wind is in our favour and its keeping the fire from coming straight through the middle of our land, l can hear Riannah screaming in the house as all of the smoke detectors have gone off, the embers are hitting the roof and as she tells me later she thinks that the house is on fire.
Riannah is quiet traumatised by this and sleeps on a mattress at the foot of our bed for many months after the fires.
As the fire burns along the fenceline the horses run to the other end of the paddock.
We spend hours putting water on our fence posts, at one stage the fire threatens the farmers shed across the rd from our property, burning behind his shed and into his stockyards, if these go up in flames then the bush on the other side of our property will catch fire and that would be disastrous for us and the propertys across the back of our property, so we fill the boot of our car up with buckets of water and go down to the shed, the smoke and flames are overwhelming and we think that we are too late and we are worried about fuel stored there, but decide to do what we can, after 2 trips we have made a diference, and a few other guys join us in putting it out.
We stay up all night sitting in the car so that we can keep an eye on the fire,
l have many missed calls on my mobile as does Steve, but we are exhausted and l have to charge my phone in the car, l eventually ring my Mum, she is beside herself with worry as she last spoke to Riannah when we were outside just before the fire hit us, she was so worried not knowing if we were okay.
The next day is very emotional as we drive into the town, past the devastation and speak to people gathered at the CFA, we have lived in Kinglake 20yrs and it was heartbreaking to see our town and the people we know and love suffering such terrible losses including the loss of lives.
l cannot not fully describe what we have been through or what we have seen, it certainly changed our lives.
Driving through Kinglake after the fires was very hard and brought tears to my eyes for months afterwards.
Horses were not buried for a week.
The stories of survival were sometimes amazing.
My horses were some of the lucky ones to survive.
One of my mares miscarried or reabsorbed her foal.
5 days after the fires my wonderful friend Kristin Galea, took my gelding Dara Park Kyron in at her property and worked him for me so that l could still compete at the Aussies.
l am not sure that l was really up to it but l managed to come home with
Reserve Australian Champion Amateur Ridden Purebred Gelding
Top Ten Ridden Purebred Gelding
Top Ten Amatuer Rider
After the Aussies l was lucky to be asked to go to America with friends to the Las Vegas Breeders Cup,
l had 3 fabulous weeks, great to be away from Kinglake for a while, but while l was away my mother was admitted to hospital with Pneumonia and complications from a previous operation 2 yrs earlier on a disc in her neck which after the operation affected her ability to swallow easily, giving her tremendous problems eating and being able to maintain weight, sadly my much loved Mum passed away 2 days after l got back from America..
As if my year could get any worse my 25yo neice passed away 2 weeks after my mother.
You do not seriously know how much your mother means to you until she is not there anymore.
There is not quite anyone like your Mum to listen to you when you✧re feeling down or you have exciting news, mum was the first person that l would ring when a new foal is born, and she would be waiting by the phone for the call. There✧s all those things that you wish you had asked your mum about but now never can.
l love you Mum and l miss you!!
Fire burning in the stockyard and shed next to our property taken from my fence after the fire has gone through.
A friends property 2 days after the fires, house and sheds gone, the fencing has gone, all feed is burnt, 2 horses had to be put down and others suffered minor burns, all arabians.
Whats left of Kinglake Hardware & Petrol Station
and the Pizza shop
photo taken 2 days after the fires
We are starting to get worried looking at this smoke, but nothing on the radio or internet!!
All that is left of one of the local churches burnt down
This photo of a sunset taken on the road from Kinglake to Whittlesea
