A Victorian farmer and CFA volunteer has used security camera footage to show the devastation caused during the Dadswells Bridge bushfire, which burnt 75 per cent of her property and killed 30 stud ewes.
Hopea Suffolk & White Suffolks studs principal Ellie McDonald, 25, posted the vision to YouTube, which shows firefighters and Dadswells Bridge locals fighting the blaze on her family's mixed-farming property.
The fire destroyed about 242 hectares of the 323-hectare farm as Victorian firefighters prepare for another dangerous day of weather on Wednesday, February 28, with conditions set to be catastrophic in the Wimmera.
"We lost 30 stud ewes and a stud ram in the White Suffolks because I had them in their joining lots," Ms McDonald said.
"I went clockwise around the paddock and thought they might have got out so I had a glimmer of hope, but I found them bundled up in the corner of the paddock.
"It was pretty devastating when I went and saw them."
Ms McDonald is the first lieutenant of the Dadswells Bridge Fire Brigade and was on the back of a local tanker when the fire came through her community.
Vision filmed on a security camera near the McDonald's family home revealed the intense weather conditions firefighters contended with when the fire started on February 13.
The camera recorded the footage from 8.30am to 5.30pm and elapsed over 25 minutes.
"It shows the conditions get worse and worse, so it captured everything from fire trucks coming and going and right up until the camera actually caught fire and started to melt," Ms McDonald said.
"Dad's been a CFA volunteer all his life and he's never seen wind and fire conditions like it."
Her parents Andrew and Paula McDonald are commercial sheep and cropping farmers and lost about 18 kilometres of fencing in the fire which started as a result of a series of lightning strikes in the Grampians National Park.
VicEmergency said the fire had burnt 4138 hectares and was now under control.
Ms McDonald said the fire burnt several historic red gums on her family's property, ranging from 300-400 years old, along with a culturally significant Indigenous birthing tree near Mount William Creek.
"It's just ash now," she said.
"There's nothing left... it's incredibly frustrating and sad because that's history we've lost forever."
The fire came as the family was gearing up for one of their busiest times of the year, with crutching in March and lambing to take place from April.
"It's going to be a squeeze when it comes to lambing so we will just have to make do with what we've got," Ms McDonald said.
Bryce Eishold
Bryce is a senior journalist with Australian Community Media's Stock & Land where he reports on all aspects of agriculture. Bryce is also the president of the Rural Press Club of Victoria. Email Bryce at bryce.eishold@stockandland.com.au.
Bryce is a senior journalist with Australian Community Media's Stock & Land where he reports on all aspects of agriculture. Bryce is also the president of the Rural Press Club of Victoria. Email Bryce at bryce.eishold@stockandland.com.au.
