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People evacuated from their properties in Longwood could do nothing but hope on Thursday, and watch as tall plumes of black smoke rose above the treeline.
Temporarily homeless, they huddled in caravans and vans, sheltering from the extreme heat. The air became so thick with smoke overnight it was difficult to breathe.
Jim Kades was filling a bowl of water for his 18-month-old kelpie, Sharni, while his housemate Warren Carr rested inside the caravan they’d hurriedly parked at a local reserve.
Jim Kades (left) and Warren Carr fled Longwood East on the advice of fire authorities.Credit: Jason South
Carr wore thick white bandages on both arms. On Wednesday a surgeon had sliced off skin cancers on both limbs. A canary named Boy sat inside a cage in the back of their 4WD.
Emergency authorities called them on Thursday morning, urging them to evacuate. They put together a hazy plan to stay with Kades’ brother in Shepparton. Carr does not know if the house they share will still be where he left it when he comes back. “I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night,” he said.
“Tomorrow’s meant to be worse,” added Kades. “I don’t know when we’re going to be allowed back.”
Longwood, about 150 kilometres north of Melbourne, is home to just a few hundred people, but the sprawling grasslands around here make good thoroughbred country. On Thursday, as the hills caught fire, spooked horses could be seen trotting up and down the paddocks as water bombers operated above.
Spooked horses try to flee nearby flames at a stud near Longwood.Credit: Jason South
Flames leapt up the hill behind the property and by sheds. The site was a patchwork of green paddocks and burnt-out grass.
Residents and workers, some in their teens, waited at the intersection of Longwood-Ruffy and Faithfull roads to receive news from the fire ground. Just before 4pm a short but welcome burst of rain swept across the property, just enough water to put the embers out.
Firefighters said two structures had been lost in the sprawling blaze, with more homes at risk as conditions worsened.
Architectural designer Drew Kitchen pointed at a silver structure on top of a hill in Longwood East, barely visible in the thick smoke.
“That’s my house there,” he said, standing at the police checkpoint on Faithfull Road in Longwood East.
Behind it there was another home Kitchen had spent the past 18 months building. Both were now in the path of the fire.
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“Yesterday, I was down in Queenscliff and then raced home and just loaded up the car with all the replaceable stuff, went over to Mansfield at like 10-11 o’clock at night or something, stayed there, then got a water cart, came back this morning and just, I’ve just been hanging around here all day,” he said.
His plan was to help put out some of the grass fires in the area in the hope of preventing further damage. His partner and young son were out of harm’s way at work and childcare.
“The house is made of steel and mostly non-flammable stuff, and it’s pretty clear around the house, so just fingers crossed,” he said.
Kitchen, who moved into his property in Longwood East five years ago, grew up in the Otways, where the threat of a bushfire was always looming. This time though, it felt too close to home for comfort.
“It’s really stressful, but at least I got my work stuff,” he said before going back to winding up a hose in the back of the water cart.
At the checkpoint, two locals were glued to a mobile phone, watching a live security camera feed from the car. Flames burned at the edge of the property, which was surrounded by smoke.
A short while later, police manning the checkpoint comforted a man whose home had been engulfed by flames.
A firefighting helicopter could be seen flying overhead. Fire burned in a paddock nearby.
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