DESPAIR washes over Andrew Burgoine’s face as he looks around the charred remains of his farm.
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His family’s Strathallan property was the region’s worst hit in Thursday’s bushfires, forcing them to flee before it was too late.
‘‘There was that much smoke and we could see the flames, so we had to get out pretty quick,’’ he said.
They returned that night to find their rebuilt hay shed still burning, their paddocks charred, thousands of hay bales, a ute and fencing burnt, two calf sheds destroyed and about 20 calves dead.
‘‘I get attached to my babies so it’s pretty hard,’’ Andrew said with tears in his eyes.
‘‘Looking around now, everything’s just black and gone.’’
The dairy farm had just recovered from the devastating 2011 floods, which inundated the 2000-acre property. Leaving the fifth generation’s parents, Ian and Denise Burgoine, homeless, their 500-cow herd (the largest Brown Swiss herd in Australia) marooned and hundreds of fodder rolls destroyed.
With no flood insurance, the Burgoines paid for the financial impact for years.
‘‘We survived the flood and then this happens, which is a lot worse,’’ Andrew said.
‘‘This is going to cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars.
‘‘My parents are devastated.’’
About 19 vehicles were called to the Burgoine Rd fire about 12.45pm; the 40-degree heat and high winds triggering an emergency warning.
‘‘It started on the north-west of the property and headed along the far side pretty quickly, when the winds changed and brought the full front across the paddocks,’’ Andrew said.
‘‘We were watching it and then it turned and came at us.
‘‘My son and I grabbed a couple of machines and tractors and took off down the road when the firies were coming our way. They wanted to know where it was and I said ‘it’s coming straight at us’.
‘‘We couldn’t come back and grab any more stuff, there was too much smoke and we couldn’t see, so we just had to hope for the best.’’
Thankfully, there was a silver lining — firefighters managing to save his parents’ house.
‘‘That was a God-send,’’ Andrew said.
‘‘The response from the fire crews has been fantastic. There were a heap of trucks buzzing around everywhere and a helicopter water bomber. We’d like to thank them all for what they did.’’
While the future looks uncertain, Andrew and wife Belinda were up early on Friday repairing fences and plumbing so they could milk.
‘‘I’m not sure what this all means yet,’’ Andrew said.
‘‘At the moment, it’s just one day at a time.’’
With the community rallying behind the family, Belinda said she was extremely grateful for all the support.
‘‘The phones haven’t stopped,’’ she said.
‘‘We’ve had people dropping off hay and coming in with an excavator to help, so we can’t thank people enough.
‘‘But while it’s great today, what are we going to do next week?’’
CFA district 20 commander Michael Masters said the blaze was believed to have reignited from a nearby fire on Sunday.
"A fire had started by a lawnmower and had spread into grass on the riverbank and crews went to check on that yesterday when the O'Dea Rd fire started so they headed to Nanneella to fight that one and 20 minutes later, the fire in Burgoine Rd happened," he said.
"The Nanneella fire was started by a previous burn-off that the landowner had done five weeks ago.
"This reinforces the message that people need to check any burn-off because we've had no significant rainfall."
About 35 tankers and 140 firefighters, including two external strike teams from Lilydale and Dandenong Ranges, spent most of the day Thursday battling the two bushfires, which destroyed about 440 hectares.
"Thursday was the most severe weather conditions the district has seen in many years," Mr Masters said.
"It has been over 10 years a Code Red day has been declared and to have two fires causing us real concern be contained the way they were was a terrific effort.
"The Burgoine Rd fire had all the potential in the world to run into Rochester and with winds blowing 100km/h and more, it could have turned into a nasty fire so the volunteers did a great job."
READ ECHUCA VILLAGE CFA CAPTAIN'S STORY