I live in Pheasant Creek and on the day of the fire I was weathering out the heat like most people with the curtains shut and watching TV. We knew when we moved here two and a half years ago that we were moving to a fire-prone area and we took it seriously. We bought a generator, a decent pump and installed a sprinkler system around the house. My husband spent many hours clearing undergrowth and removing overhanging branches.
We went to the CFA meetings and joined the local fire-guard group. This was a series of meetings in neighbours houses led by a CFA volunteer who educated us about what to expect from a bushfire and how to prepare our properties.
Because of the weather warnings during the week and the previous exceptionally hot weather that led up to the day, we had filled water barrels and placed them around the house along with mops and buckets, rakes, etc. and had the correct clothing ready.
When the fire hit we went into complete panic for a few minutes then got ourselves under control, turned on the sprinklers and my husband connected the trailer to the car carrying water tanks and began hosing trees that caught on fire close to the house. Meanwhile my son and I were putting out embers that threatened to take hold close to the house. The sprinklers attached to the eaves of the house kept us cool and wet. The fire was all around us, in the trees and catching in a flash of a second everywhere but the house was OK thanks to the sprinklers and my wonderful brave husband and son. These things saved us along with a whole lot of pure luck. Venturing out to seehow everyone else had fared was the scary part, with trees and power lines hanging and falling over the roads and still burning, most of our neighbours houses completely flattened and still exploding. Hugs all round and screams of relief when we found our friends OK. They had run to another neighbours house and fought the fire together there.
We lost sheds and loads of stuff and our precious cat who liked to sleep in the hay in the shed but we are all OK and I guess here to stay.
My Memory
Christine Mar 31, 2009
We went to the CFA meetings and joined the local fire-guard group. This was a series of meetings in neighbours houses led by a CFA volunteer who educated us about what to expect from a bushfire and how to prepare our properties.
Because of the weather warnings during the week and the previous exceptionally hot weather that led up to the day, we had filled water barrels and placed them around the house along with mops and buckets, rakes, etc. and had the correct clothing ready.
When the fire hit we went into complete panic for a few minutes then got ourselves under control, turned on the sprinklers and my husband connected the trailer to the car carrying water tanks and began hosing trees that caught on fire close to the house. Meanwhile my son and I were putting out embers that threatened to take hold close to the house. The sprinklers attached to the eaves of the house kept us cool and wet. The fire was all around us, in the trees and catching in a flash of a second everywhere but the house was OK thanks to the sprinklers and my wonderful brave husband and son. These things saved us along with a whole lot of pure luck. Venturing out to seehow everyone else had fared was the scary part, with trees and power lines hanging and falling over the roads and still burning, most of our neighbours houses completely flattened and still exploding. Hugs all round and screams of relief when we found our friends OK. They had run to another neighbours house and fought the fire together there.
We lost sheds and loads of stuff and our precious cat who liked to sleep in the hay in the shed but we are all OK and I guess here to stay.