Wimmera connects with Walwa
The power is gone. The landlines are unusable. Mobile phones are rendered useless.
All the while, fire rages at the front gate and smoke consumes the sky.
Before a strike team of Wimmera firefighters arrived, this was the isolating reality of the Walwa community.
The northeast Victorian town was one of many to bear the wrath of the country’s bushfire crisis.
With fire slowly fencing them in, its residents were forced to defend their town alone for a week, with a single fire truck and a ute with a water tank on the back.
A 20-person Country Fire Authority, CFA, deployment predominantly from the region’s District 17 was one of the first sources of outside help the town received.
District 17 member and strike-team leader Roger Perris said that when his team arrived and was debriefed about Walwa’s situation, he was ‘a bit shocked’.
“The fact that they had been battling the fire on their own for a week before we got there was just amazing,” he said.
“They had been attacked on the north and south side the week before, and when we got there they were being attacked from the east and west.
“They were very happy to see us. They greeted us with hugs and open doors for whatever we needed.”
Mr Perris said the strike team implemented containment lines, back-burning and asset protection, in addition to providing community engagement and education.
He said when his team was due to return home three days later, they found it difficult because of the relationships they had formed and the threat they knew Walwa would continue to face.
“I guess when you arrive in a town and don’t know anyone and are greeted with hugs and everything, you do form a bond and a relationship with those people,” he said.
“It was nice to give them a hand, and also at the same time really hard to leave them because of that relationship and because we knew they were under threat.
“But we had to think about our own team and its safety too.
“We did hear another strike team was coming, but we didn’t know when, so we took over their fire truck and their small vehicle and gave them a day off and time to rest.
“Last I heard, the fire had been contained to the outskirts, and they managed to hold it back.”
Shortly after returning from the fiveday deployment, a Wimmera committee formed, consisting of Warracknabeal residents and members of the strike team, and the Wimmera-walwa Bushfire Recovery Appeal was created.
The appeal is focused on generating money and livestock feed for Walwa.
Warracknabeal CFA captain and strike team member Cameron Whelan said it was the fact Walwa residents had been through so much that the Wimmera group felt it was important it continued to help.
“I think that when we initially got to the town and sat down, we had a little bit of time to talk to the residents and hear about what they had been through,” he said.
“The fire was lingering around the town for about a week, and that extension of trauma was really wearing them down – it was becoming quite emotional.
“There were some people who felt they had been almost forgotten in some way, I guess because the limelight was on other areas in the state at the time.
“I think they really been isolated.
“We pretty much just saw a need there and wanted to help.”
Mr Whelan said before the Wimmera-walwa appeal went public, community groups had already donated $9000, with an additional contribution of livestock feed. felt they had
He said the donation total now sat at more than $12,000, following The Warracknabeal Bowling Club raising $1428, The Rotary Club of Warracknabeal donating gold coins from the weekend’s Australia Day ceremony, and a Tupperware raffle led by Wimmera resident Casey Kosch raising $890.25.
He said two semi-loads of hay had also been delivered to Walwa, with more to head off soon.
He said Walwa residents had been grateful and overwhelmed by the support of the Wimmera.
“We’ve started to gather a nice little nest egg for them, which is good,” he said.
“And what makes this appeal different is that 100 percent of the money will go to them and they will decide how it will be used.
“We’ve been speaking with the Walwa Bush Nursing Centre and the principal of Walwa Primary School, Steven Lynch, to establish their greatest needs, and they’ll be using a model from a previous disaster management plan to distribute funds according to their primary need.
“They’re very appreciative. And I think to have strangers do this they’ve been a bit overwhelmed.”
Mr Whelan encouraged organisations, fundraising committees and people to visit the Wimmera-walwa Bushfire Recovery Appeal Facebook page to find out more or make a donation.
He said people could also donate money in person at Dianne Marchment and Associates Accounting in Warracknabeal until the end of February.