When fire returned, this community was ready

Years of preparation work with Australian Red Cross have paid off for the small Victorian community of Dargo.

Deep in the foothills of the Victorian Alps, about 350 kilometres east of Melbourne, sits the small community of Dargo. A popular stopover for four-wheel drivers, campers and hunters, it's known for its rugged landscape, century-old walnut trees and winding river.

But what makes Dargo beautiful also makes it vulnerable to disaster. In recent years, the township has faced bushfires and flooding, often consecutively.

In January 2026, the community found itself confronting another major emergency after lightning sparked a blaze in the remote Wonnangatta Valley north of Dargo. Within days, the fire had surrounded the town from the north and west, placing residents and tourists on high alert.

But unlike previous fires she'd faced, this time Connie felt more prepared. For years, Dargo residents have been working with Australian Red Cross to identify risks, strengthen community connections and plan for future emergencies.

When fire returned to the valley, they knew how to navigate what lay ahead.

A call to collaborate

“Charee from Australian Red Cross rang and said, ‘hey, we’d like to do a session with the community there. We can get people together and talk about how we can better plan for fires’,” recalls Dargo resident Karen.

It wasn’t long after the Black Summer bushfires, and while Dargo wasn’t directly impacted, areas of nearby Gippsland were burning for weeks. “Prior to Australian Red Cross getting in touch, we’d had a few meetings at the hall but there wasn’t really a fixed plan in place. And I thought with Red Cross being so well known, they would communicate with the community a lot better.”

In 2022, Australian Red Cross began working with Dargo through RediCommunities, supporting residents to develop their own disaster preparedness plan.

“It's led by the community,” says Australian Red Cross Recovery and Resilience Senior Manager Brad Watson. “It's not just about preparing for disasters. It's about communities building trust, relationships and becoming more connected.”

While Dargo was already a close community, Karen saw those connections strengthen as residents worked together to develop a local evacuation plan.

“Australian Red Cross made everyone feel included and really relished the ideas that came from community members,” she remembers. “I think that was really important – not just to get the plan organised, but for our community members to feel like they contributed to it.”

As part of the planning process, Dargo River Inn was identified as a safe place to evacuate to during emergencies.

“We had a meeting with Australian Red Cross, and they wanted to know where the emergency evacuation point for everyone was, because originally there wasn't really a central place for people to go during an emergency,” says Kelly, co-owner of Dargo River Inn. “They agreed with myself and my partner that here would be great because it's open space for everyone and plenty of room.”

Alongside the planning process, Australian Red Cross supported practical preparedness initiatives ranging from chainsaw training workshops for women to a community-led digital mapping project, which combined local knowledge with satellite imagery and climate data, helping residents to identify risks and draw on community strengths and resources before disaster strikes.

When disaster strikes, community stands up

In October 2023, the community’s planning was first tested when bushfire and flash flooding struck during a busy long weekend. Drawing on the relationships and plans developed through RediCommunities, residents quickly coordinated support for stranded campers and local families impacted by flooding.

“Australian Red Cross really helped with that. They were helping people with food vouchers and white goods,” recalls Kelly of the support that followed, helping those who had lost belongings get back on their feet.

Yet it was the January 2026 fires that really put the town’s plan to the test.

“On that Friday evening, the sky started turning black, brown, burgundy,” recalls Karen. “Because of the work we’d done with Australian Red Cross, our priority was to decide whether we were going to stay or go. We decided to stay, and Australian Red Cross had helped us to prepare what to do next – how to prepare our property, which we did.

“We decided to go down to the River Inn to get a better understanding of where exactly the fires were, and how close they were,” continues Karen. “We talked to Kelly; she let us know what was going on. Some were a bit more anxious than others, but we just talked to each other. Australian Red Cross encouraged us to talk to one another in the community to feel reassured.”

As planned, the grounds around Dargo River Inn began filling up with caravans, tents and cars, as locals and tourists alike sought a place of safety.

“We thought, ‘yeah, not a problem, we could do this’. But we didn’t expect the timeframe,” says Kelly. “The fires went for seven weeks and one day. Australian Red Cross would ring us to see if we needed any support, if there was anyone affected, if clothes were needed, how we were going in our mental state and if we needed support that way,” recalls Kelly. “We were okay, but we knew that help was there if we needed, so we were very grateful for that.”

From relief towards recovery

As the fire continued to burn, the township’s drinking water – sourced from rain tanks and the river – was contaminated by heavy levels of ash and sediment.

“We got a phone call about the water supply being disrupted, because they know that in an emergency, Australian Red Cross can help to support communities with emergency food and water relief,” says Australian Red Cross Victorian State Programs Manager Fyowna Norton. “So we moved quickly, engaging with the local council and through our partnership with Food Bank, we were able to help deliver around 200 slabs of water up to the community house here.”

In early February, the fires were brought under control, and the people of Dargo could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Many of the surrounding hills were parched, but no homes in the community were lost. Residents were quick to support one another through the next few weeks and months, with locals taking extra care to check in on their most vulnerable neighbours.

At the end of autumn, people came together for a community dinner hosted by Australian Red Cross, sharing stories of how the community responded during the fires and identifying ways to build on those successes in the future.

For Fyowna, it was the decisions residents made as the fires approached that reflected the success of years of preparation.

“People on properties that were most threatened may not have previously made the decision to evacuate early, but based on the conversations they’d had and the work they'd done in understanding disaster and its impacts, they did,” she says.

While disasters will remain part of life in Dargo, residents feel more confident than ever in their ability to face them together.