"We never rest": behind the lines of Wangaratta CFA's strike team response

Moyhu firefighter Emily Ott was supposed to be heading home. She was deployed to Merton as part of a Wangaratta strike team of 25 as crew leader on the Springhurst tanker on Saturday morning. Merton had been heavily attacked by fire on the back of the state’s most catastrophic fire day since Black Summer. After extinguishing hot spots most of the morning with the Glenrowan tanker, the heat and wind returned in the afternoon, and a grassfire broke out nearby. The strike team of five tankers battled the blaze for hours and were able to contain it. As Emily and her crew were about to depart following their 12-hour shift, she was eager to check on a nearby farmer who had decided to stay and protect his property before she left. Her and strike team leader Garry Nash went to the home in the Wangaratta Forward Command Vehicle. “It’s a bit scary for people who have never dealt with fires before,” she said. “We raced back off to the tankers,” she said. As they caught up with the farmer, they saw the same grass fire the crew had put out earlier had started again and was quickly travelling towards the man’s home. The strike team reconvened and fought the fire once again, putting it out once and for all this time. Their quick response was able to save the man’s home, along with another property on the other side of the hill, which may not have been possible if Emily hadn’t of thought of conducting a welfare check. “It’s a horrible thing but I enjoy going out there and looking after everyone, trying to do my best to protect all of the farmland,” she said. “Their grass is their priority; their animals are their priority so we always try and do the best we can. “It’s heartbreaking, especially for a farmer myself seeing all of this land and grass just gone.” Mr Nash said the Wangaratta strike team were able to save four structures that day, as around 50 firefighters from the Wangaratta and Moyhu groups continue to be deployed on 12-hour shifts to and from the major blaze. “Our teams are standing up really well, we’ve got good rotation and I certainly thank the members of family and employers who allow volunteers to come out,” he said. As of 1pm Tuesday, 343 structures as well as livestock, cropping land, vineyards and one life have not been able to be saved within the 137,000ha fire not yet under control. A State Control Centre spokesperson said more than 400 firefighters and 100 fire appliances have been on scene as around 15 to 20pc of containment lines have been constructed. Strike teams are being coordinated at Wangaratta CFA group's headquarters on Ely Street, carefully managing resources to allow for on-call responders to be deployed at any new fires. Wangaratta CFA group officer Lachie Gales said a strike team from Milawa responded to an urgent deployment at Bullioh around midnight on Saturday, as houses burned down in the area. “We never rest, you’re always on call in a situation like this to be able to respond urgently and it only happens because people stand up to contribute to their communities,” he said. A State Control Centre spokesperson said four structures, 584ha of farmland and a 10,000ha pine plantation had been lost in the ongoing 101,800ha blaze near Walwa. Mr Gales said he hoped resource requests out of the Longwood fire began to reduce this week prior to higher risk fire days expected on Friday this week. “If we can get a couple of days respite for our crews, get our tankers back, get a reset of our whole systems, that would be terrific,” he said. Extremely poor air quality has been hovering over the rural city as smoke blows in from 12 ongoing fires across Victoria. Rural City of Wangaratta Mayor Irene Grant said the rural city’s thoughts were with those affected by fires in recent days. "Our hearts go out to those communities currently facing the devastating impacts of bushfires,” she said. “We are in regular contact with affected councils and are providing assistance where we can.” A further $15m recovery package has been announced by the state and federal governments, which will go towards communities affected by the fires. Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy welcomed the support package and McCurdy paid tribute to the tireless efforts of volunteer and career firefighters, emergency services personnel and support crews working in dangerous and exhausting conditions. “These fires have caused enormous heartbreak,” he said. “My commitment is to stand with our communities, advocate for stronger support, and ensure no one is left behind in recovery.” Mr Nash urged the local community to remain vigilant over the coming weeks, as the fire season goes on. “We’ve got a good six or eight weeks of hot weather to go through and water levels are low,” he said. “It’s not too late for people to do their fire preparation and making sure their properties are safe.”

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