'Nothing at all survived the flames'

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'Nothing at all survived the flames'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7885319.stm

Page last updated at 15:59 GMT, Wednesday, 25 February 2009



The town of Yarra Glen lies 50km from Melbourne. Its 3,000 residents have been stunned by the devastation caused by the fires sweeping Australia.

Kirk and Melanie Anderson fled their Yarra Glen home with their four children taking just the clothes they were wearing. Kirk described his experience to the BBC news website after he went back to see what remained of his home.


The family left to right: Olivia (Kirk's mother), Dashiell, 5, Kirk, Wanda, 3, Tarquin, 8, Melanie, Caleb, 10

I woke up early in the morning on the 7 February and noticed that the wind was up and it was very, very warm. When you live in the bush, you live differently; you have an instinct for danger. You live knowing that fire is a real threat and you watch for the signs.

We have four children under the age of ten and we got them dressed and into the car. We hoped we might be able to go back to the house that evening if the winds dropped and the risk of fire passed.  

We drove to the river and had a swim, then we went into town for lunch. Afterwards we went to the movies to sit in the air-conditioning but the power went off and we got really hot again. As the day drew to a close, we started to head home to get more clothes and to find out what had happened. On the way back a friend who lives on the same street as us called to say that there was a fire.  

We drove to the ridge by our house and we could see all the trees on fire.

Disbelief  

Initially I just felt shock, it didn't sink in.  We stayed at a friend's house that first night. It was only in the morning when we realised that we didn't have a change of clothes, that it really started to become real for us. We began to realise that we might be homeless.

My wife and I went back to our home the next morning and we just felt disbelief. We didn't recognise the house at all. Things were still burning so we couldn't get close enough to really assess the damage but we knew it didn't look good.  

Later that day a good friend very generously offered us his house to live in as he was away on business. I couldn't believe that we had a proper house to stay in. I felt overwhelmed by this kindness. It meant we had a proper base.  

On the third day we went back to what had once been our home. We took the children with us so that they could process what had happened and hopefully start to recover. They were so upset when they saw that their home had gone and that all their toys had been burnt. Putting them to bed that night was horrendous because they all cried for a very long time.  

Nothing survived


Kirk says they will rebuild, but doesn't know when

I went back the next day and could finally get into what was left of the property. There wasn't a single thing that had survived the flames. There was nothing to salvage, nothing at all. The authorities had been to the site. They had painted pink crosses on trees that will need to be pulled down because of the fire damage.

We did have 30 trees; half of them have gone and most of the rest will have to be cut down. The beautiful big tree that stood in the front garden is painted with a big pink cross. Looking down over the valley from the ridge, it looked like a patchwork quilt where the fire had scalded the grass and burnt down trees.

Several days on and we've worked hard to make things as normal as possible. The children are back at school and I'm going back to work.

I've moved around a lot in my life but 18 months ago my wife and I decided to settle down and have a proper family home. This was to be a new beginning for us. We had only just moved in. We will rebuild but I don't know when.

I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of friends, neighbours and employers. We've been given a house to live in, clothes, food, beds and bedding. I haven't had to cook dinner in ages!  

The children have been given toys and presents. My eight year old said "I have more stuff now than I had before". I am incredibly surprised by peoples' kindness. I knew I lived in a great community but everyone has been so amazing. Even the wider community has been extraordinarily generous. My six year old said "It's like having two Christmases in one year".