By Luke Voogt
More than a dozen Geelong volunteers are helping farmers rebuild their burnt out properties after fires devastated Victoria’s southwest.
Highton retiree John Howie joined efforts to rebuild more than 3000km of fencing lost in four fires that tore through nearly 300 farms.
“Some of the farmers have been in tears – they have nothing left,” the 67-year-old told the Indy from Cobden on Wednesday.
“Honest to god, you’ve only got to see the devastation of how the wind can blow one way and wipe out everything, but ten feet away it’s like brand new.
“Some people have got properties that are purely scorched earth – that’s their life savings all gone.”
The gratitude of farmers and their families amazed Mr Howie, who grew up on his parents’ farm in the Mallee before moving to Geelong.
“We had a family who have come around with beautiful cut sandwiches on the back of a trusty Falcon ute,” he said.
He and Lara friend Alan ‘Darkie’ Lewry travelled to Cobden on a “spur of the moment” decision last weekend.
“On Saturday I printed out the information and showed Darkie, and on Sunday we were hooking up the caravans to go out,” he said.
“We did a couple of kilometres of fence yesterday and we’ll do couple more today. If we can make their day easier that’s worth the journey.”
Money has flowed in to BlazeAid since the fires hit, said the organisation’s founder and president Kevin Butler, a Kilmore sheep farmer.
But Mr Butler said BlazAid desperately needed $1 million to rebuild fences.
The recent milk crisis had left many dairy farmers with “zero ability” to put money away for a natural disaster of this magnitude, he said.
“We know there are some farmers that won’t make it but we know there are many farmers that will with the community’s help.”
Scores of volunteers aged in their late teens to 70s had set up tents at base camps to help the farmers rebuild.
“It’s always a bit emotional for (farmers) when a team of strangers pulls up in their driveway with their sleeves rolled up ready to go.”
But BlazeAid needed many volunteers more to get the job done, he said.
“It’s a great sense of camaraderie and you get to sit down and enjoy a feed and a drink and have a good chin wag at the end of the day.“
WestVic Dairy regional manager Lindsay Ferguson thanked BlazeAid for coming to the aid of the region’s farmers.
