Remembering day of terror
IT may have been 35 years since the Ash Wednesday fires today, but the terrifying event is etched forever in the memory of many in our region.
Fire tore through the Otways and the Surf Coast, claiming homes and lives. Three people were killed in the region, and 730 homes lost.
More than 180 blazes raged across Victoria, where 47 died, and South Australia, where there were 28 deaths. Here, coastal towns including Aireys Inlet, Anglesea, Lorne and Fairhaven were hit hard.
February 16, 1983, known as Ash Wednesday, was a hot day preceded by years of drought. Large clouds of ash and cinder fell on Geelong, reminding the city how close the inferno had come.
CFA Chief Officer Steve Warrington said it was a day no Victorian who lived through it would ever forget.
“A diabolical combination of unprecedented conditions set Victoria up for the worst bushfires the state had seen in more than 40 years,” he said.
“Within a 12-hour period, 180 bushfires, including eight major fires, ignited and were then fanned by winds of up to 110km/h.
“For some of us, Ash Wednesday still feels like yesterday. We will never forget the fierce conditions and the sorrow of losing so many lives. Today however we honour the memories of those who lost their lives and our thoughts, as ever, remain with their loved ones.”
Aireys Inlet resident Lloyd Venables stood outside his home armed with a garden hose. He was killed, his home survived.
Geelong Advertiser photographer Mike Dugdale, the last person to see Mr Venables alive, described the horror of Ash Wednesday last year.
“The whole of Victoria nearly caught on fire that day,” Dugdale told the Geelong Advertiser.
“I walked past Lloyd Venables, had a chat and took his photo.
“Suddenly the fire came up the hill on our right, I’ll never forget the sound. We ran back to the car, that’s when the fireys jumped in the back and said ‘Get us out of here’.”
Colin Barton and Colac’s Eric Mierla also died. Mr Barton was found in the remains of his Fairhaven home. Mr Mierla’s ute was engulfed in flames on the Lorne-Deans Marsh Rd.