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The tiny township of Strathewen is all but gone except for the chimneys of some of the 40 homes and the eucalyptus trees that stand defiant over the blackened landscape. There were 200 people living in the community nestled on the fringe of Kinglake and now over 40 are dead.
Here is the story of how one family, a few friends and three dogs managed to escape the inferno.
On 7 February, the hottest day on record for Victoria, the biggest concern for the McKenzie family was how to keep cool. Brothers Dylan (21) and Leigh (22) invited some friends around for a swim in their pool and were happily having a few drinks and laughs when the first of the fire embers started spitting on them in the pool.
'We weren't too worried then. We've been evacuated before, but usually you get a two-hour warning. We had been told that Whittlesea was under threat, but then flames started coming over the hill, then spot fires started on our neighbours
paddock. It crept up on us so quickly, there was no warning... that's when we realised we were in trouble,' recounts Leigh.
'We could hear the fire roaring and it sounded like a jet plane. It was like nothing I've heard before.' |
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Jules the dog is happy to be reunited with her owner Jae Lovelace after she escaped the horrific fires in Strathewen. Photo: Rodney Dekker.
Dylan and his brother Leigh lost their family home in Strathewen. Photo: Rodney Dekker.
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It was then that the McKenzie's and their friends began to panic. 'When the power went out, we just went in the house grabbed a handful of what we could and then left in five cars. In total, five McKenzies and seven of their friends, plus three dogs piled into the cars.
On the way, they ran into their neighbours who had inconveniently run out of petrol, so they too crammed into the cars as they made an attempted escape out of Strathewen.
When they got to Kinglake, however, everything was blocked off, so they had no choice but to take refuge in a building. They ran into the cafe‚ on the main road that was just across the road from the hardware store and the petrol station. There were 20 people in the cafe‚ including the McKenzie clan.
'Shortly after we got to the cafe, the hardware store caught on fire and then the petrol station went up. Everything went black and it turned to night. There were red embers everywhere. Everyone started crying. I thought I was dead,' recalls Dylan.
But somehow, they managed to survive the night lying low, with wet towels on their faces. The windows were too hot to touch or even stand near from a foot away.
When the McKenzie's and their friends left the cafe‚ in the morning, the petrol station was still burning (and continued to burn
for 24 hours) and every house was levelled from Kinglake to Whittlesea. They arrived at the recovery centre in Whittlesea and experienced a sense of relief, if only temporarily. 'From coming from nothing to some food, socks and jocks was a great thing. We registered with Red Cross and then got a bite to eat. It's what you want is to find some friendly people who want to help out,' explains Dylan.
For Jules, one of the dogs who was rescued, her greatest relief was being reunited with her owner Jae Lovelace, a friend of the brothers. The smile on the dog's face is a welcome sight and momentarily helps one to forget the tragedy that everyone has just experienced.
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