A PENOLA Country Fire Service (CFS) volunteer has urged landowners to be bushfire ready following his return from battling the New South Wales bushfires.
Penola resident Daniel McRostie spent five days away from family and friends to help those in need interstate, where almost five million hectares of land have been burnt as a result of the devastating bushfires.
In October, the volunteer firefighter travelled interstate where he spent three days on the ground maintaining spot fires and burnt trees.
Using a GPS system from an overhead plane, Mr McRostie and his crew tended to potential hazards on the fireground.
Mr McRostie, who has been deployed twice in his five-year firefighting career, has called on residents to keep their home and property well prepared.
“After seeing it on the front line and then coming home I realised we are no properly prepared for bushfires to that extend,” Mr McRostie said.
“If people’s houses were tidier it would make it a lot easier for us if something that extreme happens.”
Mr McRostie recalled the experience as “eerie”, with smoke from the blaze blanketing townships.
“The smoke was sitting about the height of buildings,” he said.
“It was quite creepy to walk around in.”
Mr McRostie said access to water was one of the major challenges, alongside communication with family.
“One of the main things we were told was to ask permission to use any of the residents water because it was all they had left,” he said.
“A lot of farmers were grumpy at the helicopters taking the water, which is when we realised just how dry it is over there.
“We were only able to contact our family once or twice a day due to little to no reception too which was difficult.”
Mr McRostie said although the widespread destruction was devastating, there were a number of positives to come out of the deployment including the can-do attitude of residents.
“There was one local who literally only had the boots on his feet, shorts and shirt,” he said.
“He had lost everything else and his wife and daughter had to jump into the dam to save their own lives while they were letting the horses out.”
Mr McRostie said the man “still had a smile on his face” while assisting neighbours with their fences and gathering stock.
“He was saying his family are still alive and that was all that mattered,” he said.
“There were locals who spent six hours with watering cans to save their house.
“They had significant burns on their arms and legs but they managed to save their property.”
Mr McRostie praised the townspeople for their warm welcome.
“We arrived at the town hall where they were having sandwiches, tea and coffee,” he said.
“There were locals who were coming up to us and thanking us and were shocked when we explained how far we had traveled to help.”
He also commended his fellow firefighters, likening the group as a “big family”.
“When we were dining together someone you do not know would sit next to you and you would just start chatting as if you had known them for years,” Mr McRostie said.
“Each tent would hold up to 12 of us sleeping on camper stretchers and we had the Salvation Army catering for us and helping with supplies.”
