Neil and Bethany Devanny’s property was burnt out by the Longwood fires.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Bethany and Neil Devanny watched the Longwood bushfire circle their property for 36 hours, crawling down the ridge behind their home.
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“We were getting up during the night, taking it in turns to just check; we’d then go back to bed for three hours,” Ms Devanny said.
A sudden change in the wind direction accelerated the blaze, bringing it to within 300 metres of their property.
“We started doing what was necessary — spraying down, all that sort of stuff — as the fire was coming,” Mr Devanny said.
“I'd had 10 hours sleep in about five days, so I was rat-shit.
“Making decisions was very difficult under those circumstances.”
The fire had nearly reached their home when the Mt Wombat fire tower called in additional fire units.
“We were fortunate that Geoff (Broughton) called in those extra three trucks, and they saved us,” Mr Devanny said.
They were able to save their home, sheds and livestock from being destroyed, but lost fences and grazing land.
The Devannys have been blown away by the support provided by volunteer disaster recovery organisation BlazeAid.
“You can see the uniform, put a person inside there, they all come the same way, keen to help and do their best,” Mr Devanny said.
“They’re volunteering obviously, but they didn’t have to come back today, and they did because they want to help.”
“The people here are wonderful people, every one of them,” Ms Devanny said.
The couple have faced a similar fire recovery in the past, repairing fences themselves while working full-time.
“In 1990, when we burnt out, we were working five days ... then we'd come here on the weekends and do our fencing,” Mr Devanny said.
“We did it all ourselves and that took six months for us to do, and both of us ended up in the hospital; Bethany with pneumonia and me with just exhaustion.
“We’re not gonna do that this time, we can’t afford to, but these guys are available this time — and that’s really good.
“That makes it personally manageable for us, and it looks after our mental health and our wellbeing.
“The benefits aren’t just about putting up the fence.”
BlazeAid’s reach is wide, with teams working across the district to help hundreds of landholders.
The organisation has been working in the Longwood area since mid-January, establishing a co-ordinating camp at Euroa Showgrounds.
Since then, 488 volunteers have helped out, with 50 currently involved.
BlazeAid crew member Gregory Morrison works on rebuilding fencing.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Volunteers come from all different backgrounds, with team members aged from 12 to their early 80s.
BlazeAid’s Longwood camp has had 226 affected farmers register for help, beginning the long process of rebuilding fencing destroyed in the blaze.
Camp managers Debra Ong and Amanda Wyllie told The News that the impacts of the fire were far-reaching.
“We believe there are around 350,000 hectares that have been affected, but no-one really knows the true extent of damaged fences,” Ms Ong said.
BlazeAid team leader Stewart Crafter said the scale of recovery meant volunteers were working across dozens of properties each week.
“We do two or three days and then move somewhere else, so everyone gets a bit of help, and then we’ll come back and cycle through,” Mr Crafter said.
BlazeAid expects the camp to continue operations for as long as six months.
It is still calling out for volunteers, and urges anyone interested to phone the Longwood camp inquiries line on 0448 664 637.
Volunteers need to be able-bodied, but do not need prior experience with fencing or bushfire recovery, with the camp providing skills training.
BlazeAid is taking on new landowners, providing clearing, chainsawing, fence-building and fence repairs.
Interested landowners should contact the Longwood helpline on 0429 770 872.
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