Students sheltered in cow trough as blaze engulfed Framlingham on Ash Wednesday

Ten south-west people were killed, 1000 buildings razed and more than 20,000 head of livestock destroyed when blazes, fanned by north winds on a 43-degree day, tore through more than 50,000 hectares.

On the 40th anniversary, we remember the lives lost, those that were changed forever and the incredible community efforts to rebuild.

Sharyn Vaughan remembers vividly the agony of waiting hours to know whether her parents Don and Phyllis Vaughan and her sister had been affected by the Ash Wednesday bushfires.

Ms Vaughan was at school in Warrnambool when students were told all buses had been cancelled.

Frighteningly, as other parents arrived to pick up their children, she heard reports that "Framlingham is gone".

Ms Vaughan didn't know until midnight when her uncle drove her home to the township that her family and her childhood home had survived the blaze.

"Our house was not burnt, but all sheds and the stables were," Ms Vaughan said.

"Our neighbour's house was burnt down and they stayed with us for a while.

"My sister, mum and dad were at the farm on the day.

"They saved the house and sheltered seven of the primary school kids in the cowyard trough."

Ms Vaughan also shared a book that Framlingham students compiled after the blaze.

The students shared some of their memories in the book.

"When the smoke had cleared, the severity of the damage was revealed ... houses razed, livestock destroyed and property damaged," the book states.

It reveals the school was only given 10 minutes warning about the approaching fire before it was evacuated.

One student wrote about taking refuge in a cow trough.

"We went down to the cowyard and hopped into the trough so we wouldn't die," the student wrote.

"The fire was all around the cowyard.

"We hopped out of the trough for a minute and then hopped back in because nan told us to. We put wet towels over our head."

Another student spoke about their recollection of the fateful day.

"We were alright for about half an hour but the wind changed and the fire was coming closer and closer to the cowyard," the student wrote.

"It was then that I felt very scared. Mrs Vaughan told us to get in the trough because the fire had jumped the road.

"About 10 minutes later she told us to get out and get into Frank Healy's car so we could get out of the fire but we had to get back into the trough because the car was too hot. I was terrified."

The student said Mrs Vaughan told the children not to panic.

"The smoke got worse and worse," the student wrote.

"We could hardly breathe. Mrs Vaughan was trying to put out the small fires around the place still.

"The next day I came home and looked at what we had lost from the fire.

"We didn't have any water so we had to get some from my uncle.

"We didn't have any electricity either so Doreen bought some candles before she took me home."

In another entry, a student spoke about thanking Mrs Vaughan for saving his life.

"We went past Framlingham," he wrote.

"The store, the bridge, the hall, the school house, the plantation, Damien's grandma's house, the holiday house, Nash's house, the gymkhana shed, the back of Hall's house were all destroyed.

"We went home. When we got there I was glad to see everything standing.

"Mum said that the drovers saved out cattle because our back paddock was burnt."

Another student spoke about realising her grandmother's house had burnt down the day after the fires.

"We went to grandma's," the student wrote.

"Her house was gone.

"I found two things for grandma.

"They were a cup and a saucer.

"She liked the things that I got her."

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