TWO weeks on from the devastating Keilira fire, primary producer Fiona Rasheed said there was a long road ahead before things got back to “normal” on the farm.
Sweeping through the area on December 30, the fire burnt more than 23,000ha, including around 3200ha of the Rasheed family’s property, and impacted 20 properties.
In the initial fire, Ms Rasheed said the family lost around 600 head of sheep and very few cattle, but further stock had been euthanised in relation to the blaze.
“We have currently lost more than 700 sheep and around 12 cattle to the fire,” she said.
“Unfortunately during the days after the fire, some animals needed to be put down due to injuries.
“We have around 10,000 head of sheep, so although the animals lost will be a big hit to us, we know that number could have been a lot higher.”
Ms Rasheed said her husband shifted stock when the fire was approaching, with most relocated to areas the fire burnt around.
On top of the already lost livestock, Ms Rasheed said the family now had to deal with limited feed for the animals.
“We tried to drought-proof the property this season by putting in another paddock of feed and getting a brand new hay shed,” she said.
“The idea was that if things started to dry up we would have enough feed to pull us through, but instead of the drought, the fire came through and wiped us out.
“Our brand new hay shed was burnt to the ground, another hay shed had an ember land inside and burnt out the hay, we have lost maybe 1650 bales.”
In the wake of the fires, community and service groups from across the Limestone Coast have pledged money, time and hay to supporting those affected by the Keilira fire.
Ms Rasheed said the outpouring of support from across the community had been a heartwarming result of the blaze.
“It is so amazing to hear about the South East community lending a hand when we need it most,” she said.
“We need to be able to feed our animals – it is not enough to save them from the fire, without any food they would not make it anyway.
“To have this support from people who just want to help out is so amazing.
“We are incredibly grateful for everything they are doing.”
In the last week, the Federal Government also announced it would release grants of up to $75,000 from its bushfire relief fund to farmers impacted by blazes across the country.
Although Ms Rasheed said most people in the fire ground had insurance, not everything could be covered.
“The government grants will go a long way to helping rebuild the properties,” she said.
“In the short-term, we have around 115km of fencing gone, so we have been working to stock-proof some paddocks, but we need to rebuild those fences.
“Another thing we need to get on top of is erosion control of our paddocks.
“The fire ground looks like a desert, top soil is blowing everywhere and we need to protect it so we can get crops going again.
“We will get there, it is just going to take a lot of hard work to get the job done.”
