Shoppers grab groceries by torchlight as bushfire leaves Yea in the dark

9 hours ago 3

“Next person. Cash only. You’ll need to be guided,” a worker manning the door at the Yea FoodWorks told those waiting outside the supermarket.

The town remained without power on Sunday morning as locals eagerly waited to stock up on supplies.

Locals in Yea were forced to shop using torchlight on Sunday morning as the power remained off after the bushfires.

Inside the store, staff guided customers through the aisles in the dark with a torch and clipboard.

Some were picking up coffee and milk, while others needed tomatoes, bread and Milo.

Homewood local Fiona Purvis walked down the aisles looking for cartons of milk and a large tub of water.

“We’re keeping our eskies full with just the essentials — milk and bread, butter,” she said.

Shoppers at FoodWorks in Yea were forced to shop by torch.

Purvis and her family decided to stay back and protect their 800-acre property, a 10-minute drive out of Yea on the banks of the Goulburn River.

“We knew that we could protect the farm,” she said. “We’ve got about 200 head of cattle”.

Worker Adam Kupke said the supermarket had a generator but it broke down overnight.

“We’re just trying to do what we can for the people that need help, basically. It might get to a point where we’re gonna have to close, [but] we’re just doing this for the moment,” he said.

Kupke said words could not describe the horror the region had experienced since the fires started.

“I know so many people. I grew up in the area. It’s devastating, mate,” Kupke said.

While hundreds of buildings and homes have been destroyed, no lives have been lost – but there have been many stories of close calls.

Just north of Yea, at a remote property on Caveat-Dropmore Road, police made a dramatic air rescue, evacuating two generations of a family, including a 92-year-old man and the family’s cat.

Police rescued a family at a remote property near Yea after their home was razed by fire.

Police said on Sunday morning that they used the Air Wing on Saturday to evacuate the family, who had lost their home while trying to defend it and sought shelter in a shipping container on their property as the fire raged around them.

“Two women, aged 59 and 82, and a 92-year-old man called emergency services Friday afternoon seeking assistance to evacuate their isolated property on Caveat-Dropmore Road,” Victoria Police said in a statement.

“After trying to manage the conditions for two days, including the complete loss of their home by fire, the 59-year-old woman called for help with concerns for the health of her mother and uncle.

“Police have been told the family bunkered down and sought safety in a shipping container on their property as the fire swept through the area on Wednesday, 7 January. The trio also slept in their vehicle Friday night.”

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