Avoca - Maryborough fires 40 years on

Fire trucks retreating into Talbot. Photo by Tim Fitzgerald

 

On 14 January 1985, Victoria experienced the worst bushfire conditions since the Ash Wednesday fires two years prior. With temperatures over 40 degrees and strong north-westerly winds, more than 100 fires ignited across the state.

 

The most significant was the fire that ravaged the Avoca-Maryborough district. The fire broke out on the outskirts of Avoca in mid-afternoon, and being fanned by the strong winds it quickly spread in a south-easterly direction.

According to a research report produced by the Victorian Government, within 40 minutes the fire had crossed the Pyrenees Highway despite desperate attempts by firefighters to halt its path.

The fire continued to spread through bush and grassland towards the town of Talbot, and within two hours spot fires were burning up to 2km downwind.

By 7pm that night, the wind changed to the south-west and dramatically shifted the shape of the fire. The flank was now the fire front, spanning some 28km, and it began spreading rapidly towards Maryborough. The towns of Daisy Hill, Adelaide Lead, Craigie and Majorca were badly impacted, and by 10pm the fire reached Maryborough.

CFA CEO Greg Leach was living and working in Maryborough at that time, and these are his recollections of the day.

“I was doing my apprenticeship at the local Holden dealer and was at work on the day of the fire. It was a typical hot January day with temperatures around 40 degrees, the RH was low and there was a strong northerly wind. I recall the Maryborough Fire Brigade siren going off in the early afternoon and customers coming into the garage talking about a fire near Avoca.

I finished work at 5.30pm and headed to the Maryborough Fire Station to see if I could assist. This fire was pre-AIIMS and the local Group Officer, Robert Ipsen and the DGOs of the Tullaroop Group were managing the fire from the motor room.

I found out the Rheola tanker was in attendance, but I was unable to get in touch with them. I subsequently got on another tanker that arrived at the Maryborough Fire Station that was short of crew.

Around 1900 hours the south-west wind change came through and it was clear that the fire was going to impact on Maryborough. The tanker I was on was deployed initially to Daisy Hill and then to asset protection on the west and south sides of Maryborough at around 2130 hours as the fire front came through.

I recall the significant fire behaviour as the fire swept around Maryborough and burned toward Carisbrook and Moolort. The wind then went around to the south-east and I remember there being concern about it pushing back in toward the east side of Maryborough again.

It was a very busy few hours with some extreme fire behaviour. I recall that the wind dropped out in the early hours of the morning and fire behaviour moderated and we were able to start to get the upper hand. That was my first significant fire as a volunteer with CFA.”

Other significant fire activity occurred in Melton, Kilmore, Mount Buffalo and Little River. The latter was a sizeable fire that tore through the You Yangs and began to bear down on the Little River township.

According to a report in The Age newspaper the day after the fires, Little River had to be evacuated, and the fire cut off the Princes Freeway, effectively halting traffic between Melbourne and Geelong.

The Mount Buffalo fires in Victoria’s alpine region burnt through 51,000 hectares of land and reportedly took a number of weeks to contain.

In the fire impacting the Lancefield-Kilmore area, three people tragically lost their lives. In all, 182 homes were lost across the state, 400 farms were impacted and livestock losses totalled 46,000.

 

Submitted by	Alison Smirnoff