Victorian bushfires: Terang farmer Brad Gilmour tells of losing 'life's work' in minutes
Updated
When news of the blaze that ripped through Victoria's south-west filtered through to Brad Gilmour, he was in Melbourne.
By the time he returned home to his farm outside of Terang, the fire had burned for close to another three hours.
The fire blackened 607 hectares of his farm and burned down the shearing shed, outbuildings and every fence.
"It's shattering to be honest," he said.
"A lifetime's work is all gone in probably five minutes and it'll take years to get it all back up again."
The fires, which authorities believe were sparked by lightning strikes on Saturday night, have burnt through at least 40,000 hectares across Victoria's south-west.
Mr Gilmour's own home, about 5 kilometres from the scene of the fire, was untouched but his son's house was blanketed with smoke. They had to wait before they could survey the damage.
"It's just luck. It's burnt right up to the edge of the verandah. Burnt the downpipes off the verandah posts, and yet the posts didn't light. I don't know how it's standing," he said.
The focus was now on their livestock, which have been herded into a paddock.
The Gilmours have 700 cattle on their farm, a mixture between Angus cows and Friesian heifers.
"They're honestly our biggest concern. They've got food and water at the moment but their long-term health could be jeopardised," Mr Gilmour said.
"I'm very confident some of them won't be able to survive. It's just, you can't let them suffer like that, it'd be terrible."
The fire also destroyed 3,000 rolls of hay and a significant amount of winter feed.
But in communities like Terang, help is always at hand.
Friends have already offered the Gilmours their support while they secure their property.
"We're just going to pick up the pieces make a bit of a plan," Mr Gilmour said.
Topics: bushfire, fires, disasters-and-accidents, terang-3264, vic
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