Conditions made battle at Barwidgee living hell

Written by JEFF ZEUSCHNER. - Wangaratta Chronicle 09 Feb 09

HE has almost 60 years of firefighting under his belt, but nothing prepared Max Allen for the firefight he and his crew endured near Barwidgee Creek on Saturday night.

"It was the worst I’ve ever seen," said the Everton CFA veteran, who captained the brigade for 28 years.

"The blazes at Tatong and Whitfield in 2006 were the worst I’d seen, but this was much, much worse because of the conditions.

"Working at midnight in 40 degree heat and against 80 kmh winds...and the noise was just horrendous."

Max and his crew were one of the first to respond to the fire which started along the Buckland Gap Road, near Beechworth, at around 6pm.

"We were there within 15 minutes of getting the call but it had already got away," he said.

"We went to Stanley but a wind change pushed it over towards Barwidgee Creek, which is where we got in front of it.

"It was touch and go, but we managed to save a few houses.

"But a few just up the road were destroyed, and one of them was where a couple of people died.

"You can’t help but think was there anything you could have done.

"On the way back to Myrtleford, between there and Mudgegonga, we saw about 10 homes had been destroyed."