Couple back home – for now
A Lee Valley Rd couple remain “on tenterhooks” after being evacuated from their home as a fire blazes in a pine plantation.
Lorraine O’Meara and her husband, Gary, were evacuated on Wednesday night, but have since returned to their home. However, they were bracing themselves for the call to leave again.
They were told to leave their home about 7pm, but were permitted to return about four hours later, Lorraine said.
Since then, they had found two of their cats, but a third was still missing.
Speaking with Stuff on the phone yesterday morning, Lorraine said coming home was “absolutely brilliant”.
But they were still “on tenterhooks”, she said. “The fire commander said ‘right, that’s it, if you get one phone call, you’ve got to go’.”
A block of gum trees on a neighbouring property was getting blasted with water - if those red gum trees went up, it’d be “like an Australian bushfire”.
Outside, it was cooler than on Wednesday, because no sun was coming through the plumes.
“The whole valley is smoke,” she said. Lorraine said the fire was so close, they could hear the noise of the water hitting the ground.
Their driveway had become a parking lot for forestry vehicles, and fire engines were stationed outside their gate.
Yesterday morning, it was quite still. The line up of seven helicopters was “like a tank rolling through”.
Lorraine said she had heard about the community meeting, but was concerned that if they left, they may not be able to return. The fire was about 100 metres up the hill, she said.
She was relieved to have found two of her three cats, but was worried about the younger animal still missing.
On the night of her evacuation, she told Stuff the couple were reluctant to leave behind their cats, chickens, ducks and peacocks who were all running free.
What had prompted the couple to leave was the fear that someone else would put themselves in danger coming to get them.
"They say if somebody’s going to come looking for you, you put their lives at risk,” she said.
Lorraine had high praise for emergency services.
“They’re doing a good job and we’ll stay out of their way,” she said. “Hopefully we can stay here until it’s all over.”
Around lunchtime yesterday, Stuff spoke with a resident, watching the helicopters travel back and forth up the valley. The woman asked not to be named: the last few hours have been stressful, and she felt shaken.
On Wednesday afternoon, she had smelled and then seen the smoke. She began searching for her cats and minutes later, when her husband arrived home, she told him “we’ve got to get out”.
They grabbed what they could, which included the cats, but in a stressful situation you’ll always forget something, she said. In her case it was her jewellery, and cat food.
Later, at the supermarket, she bought cat food and two bottles of wine.
Alison and Richard Smith are relative newcomers to the valley, having moved in about 18 months ago. “It’s been a baptism of fire,” Richard said.
The couple hadn’t been at home when they learned about the fire. They’d heard the news from a police officer, who rang to let them know he’d taken their dogs.
The Smiths went home, grabbed a few items and headed to a friend’s place for the night. They had been worried about their animals – two dogs, four cats, ducks, chickens and cows. However, a meeting with FENZ, set up for local residents, was reassuring: residents had been told they’d be able to visit their properties under escort to check on their animals.