Count our luck

OVER coming days we will continue to count the toll of the fires in the west of the state.

This series of fires between Colac and Hamilton took at least 18 homes and dairy herds. These are terrible losses for the regional families affected and their livelihoods.

But houses can be rebuilt and disrupted plans picked up and over time put back together.

But there is one statistic we should really focus on.

As of Monday night not one human life had been lost and the most dangerous blazes appeared under control.

We know only too well how in hot windy conditions things can very much go the other way.

Less than a decade ago the Black Saturday bushfires took the lives of 173 people.

Many of us have changed our approach since then and we are more willing to leave with our lives than stay and fight for our property.

No doubt police and emergency services have learnt a lot from that terrible day that we now put into practice.

The federal and Victorian Governments are also much better at fast-tracking small grants to those in need in the wake of emergencies such as these.

Yesterday grants were announced of up to $540 per adult and $270 per child available for immediate needs such as emergency shelter, food and clothing; and up to $40,700 per eligible household for cleanup, emergency accommodation and repairs if the place of primary residence has been damaged.

The Victorian Farmers Federation was also seeking urgent fodder donations to help farmers affected by the fires.

These were the formalised versions of immediate practical help but more will follow from the closeknit communities affected and their surrounds.

There are two lots of blessings that can be counted here.

The first is that lives have not been lost.

The second is that Victorians will invariably open their hearts, their wallets — and their hay supplies — to help out others in their time of need.