Curraweela fire's fury and 'patchy' communication catch out landholders

The blaze, 20km north of Taralga started on on a Craigs Road property at 11am Thursday, March 16. Fueled by 40 to 50km/h, winds it moved so quickly that people scurried to shift animals from paddocks.

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Yalbraith resident, Andrew Blake-Dyke, could see the smoke from his Yalbraith Road home, 3km away. He jumped in his ute, found its source, warned others that it was coming and helped property owners on the Taralga Road shift stock.

"I could see what would happen. It went into a valley, jumped a creek and burnt 70 acres (28ha). We got all the stock away and saw the fire go up the hill. I said: 'We're stuffed,'" Mr Blake-Dyke told The Post.

Taralga and Golspie RFS brigades turned up, along with other helpers who moved cattle from a Taralga Road holding.

If not for their efforts the stock would have been lost.

"We were going hell for leather for about 35 minutes," Mr Blake-Dyke said.

However, some cattle huddled in a windbreak were lost.

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Taralga resident, Tammi Balfour was among those assisting.

"We just kept cutting fences onto neighbours' blocks as the fire was moving so fast," she said.

They managed to move animals but saw some sheep had been burnt.

When police arrived, they also cut fences along Taralga Road to free animals.

Mr Blake-Dyke said one of his friends, near Curraweela Creek, also lost 91 sheep, including lambs and ewes. A nearby hayshed was also consumed in the blaze. Since then, donated hay deliveries have been arriving at his place.

A patchy mobile signal in the area meant that residents could only warn each other by landline or word of mouth. Resident John Saurine said no-one received an evacuation alert on their mobile phones.

"Absolute chaos broke out by about midday," he said.

"Those of us with farming operations tried to muster our cattle and sheep into grazed out paddocks, often without success as the animals could smell the smoke," he said.

The fire, contained by midday Tuesday, burnt out 4437ha.

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Local Land Services (LLS) southeastern manager, Aaron Smith, said at one stage four veterinary teams were in the field, assisting livestock owners.

Through a coordinated response with the Department of Primary Industries, staff visited 32 properties, provided veterinary support to 1200 livestock, euthanised 144 head and assisted with burial of 212 stock, which were predominantly sheep. They also delivered 40 tonnes of emergency fodder.

"It has obviously impacted significantly and it will take time to recover and rebuild," he said.

While the agencies have packed up their base, known as the Agriculture and Animal Services Functional Area (AASFA), at Taralga showground, support has been ongoing.

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LLS has locally based staff who could provide advice on animal health, weeds and pest animals, agriculture, natural resource management, land management and general biosecurity. District vets are also on hand.

"In the short-term, there is the immediate work involved in repairing infrastructure such as fences and on-farm storage, as well as ensuring that immediate animal welfare responsibilities such as provision of adequate food, water and shelter are met," a LLS spokesperson said.

"Additionally, there is also the increased potential for livestock diseases following a bushfire..."

Mr Smith said there could be further loss and he encouraged people to lodge their damage assessment at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/damage.

The NSW DPI Bushfire Hub houses valuable resources, and can be accessed at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/bushfires.

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