MOTHER Nature can be man's best friend or his worst enemy.
The latter was the case for several producers in the Creighton's Creek and Gooram valleys last week.
Lightning strikes from a big thunderstorm started many fires across North East Victoria but the abovementioned areas bore the brunt of the damage.
The local CFA said there were 5000 hectares burnt in a 40-kilometre perimeter.
Looking at the damage last Friday, it was luck and the efforts of many people that stopped any further losses.
Fortunately, there was no loss of life, but two houses were razed and some stock losses were reported.
The Bureau of Meteorology and the CFA had been issuing some dire warnings over the past month.
After the 2009 fires, warnings have changed and now the highest warning is "catastrophic", which is being mooted for Gippsland.
I have recently purchased a property which has a Bushfire Overlay and have had to rethink my priorities.
"To stay" or "to leave" is the biggest decision, and for us it will be "leave and take the horses, dogs and cat with us".
Of course, that is okay if we happen to be nearby, but hopefully friends and neighbours can assist if we're away.
A quick phonecall to Brad Gleeson, Landmark Euroa, led to me meeting him on Friday morning to see the damage and speak with people affected.
I met Brad at the property of Graham and Helen Cowan, Yalandra Angus, Gooram.
Fortunately, the fire left them untouched, but when seeing their property it was hard to imagine how this farm could have survived unscathed when the fire reached their boundary on two sides.
Such is the nature of a fire, when it is subject to excessive varying wind, green gullies and backburning by the CFA.
Brad and I went for a drive, which was restricted by roadblocks and warnings on many local roads.
While the fire was generally considered to be out, there were still hotspots, but the biggest danger was falling trees.
We were allowed to enter Lindsay Park – the 500ha property of racehorse trainer David Hayes.
Lindsay Park was as far as the police would allow us to go but David's nephew Tom was happy to show us their property, of which 120ha was destroyed by the fire.
Fortunately there was no loss of life and the horses and cattle escaped unharmed.
As Lindsay Park is a noted property, the road was open, but only to there.
The property was also the focus of the media on the day of the fire, but Tom said while the attention was appreciated, there should have been time given to others.
Tom said they were very fortunate but his comments and offers of assistance to their closest neighbours made to the media on the day of the fires were edited out.
Neighbouring or near properties were more affected than theirs, with at least two farms being totally burnt out.
While their houses were saved, there is no pasture left for stock.
I won't mention names as this could be unethical and unappreciated without having spoken to them, but one of these farms is reported to have lost up to 150 cows.
Other than this, stock losses have been reported as negligible.
However, not everyone has been able to get in and check on stock.
The Gooram CFA shed is on the Merton-Euroa Road and was not that close to the fires, but the Creighton's Creek CFA shed was smack in the middle.
I cannot say enough about the CFA volunteers who fought these fires, and equally in any other situation, too, but many of these firefighters were local farmers themselves.
They had to fight the fire front not knowing what was happening at home, and you have to admire their tenacity.
Let's all be fire ready, as it is exceptionally dry, or will be soon, and with an enormous amount of fuel we could all be in trouble this summer.
Be alert, be ready, but most importantly be safe.