Until the wind turned and pushed the Scotsburn bushfire towards Tracey Landt’s property and business, she thought she might have been safe from the blaze.
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The Unicorn Park and Stud Equestrian Centre owner Tracy Landt had already enacted her fire plan and had begun to move her 30 horses into an indoor training arena which also had an overhead sprinkler system. Employees and helpers had watered down the buildings and filled the spouts with water.
This preparation work led to Ms Landt not losing anywhere near as much as some neighbours did in the fast moving blaze.
“Then the wind changed and it was here in less than 50 seconds,” she said.
“You could never describe it to anyone.”
One of the people taking refuge in the training arena unknowingly filmed much of the event from the top pocket of their shirt. The amazing footage showcases the panic as the fire burns through the property.
Ms Landt lost none of her 30 horses in the fire.
Like many others, she has also been inundated with support since the fire went through. For Ms Landt in particular this has been very important as the fine print of her insurance policy had been changed last year.
“They sent me a new booklet with the renewal policy, but I just signed it and sent it back to them,” she said.
As a result Ms Landt has lost some of the insurance payments to replace things such as hay, pipes, troughs and, most importantly, fences.
However, friend Angela Lee has set up a Go Fund Me page to help with the problem and attempt to raise $10,000.
A total of $6,800 had already been raised as of late yesterday.
Ms Lee said the video showed some of what the people present had to go through on the day. She also said it showed just how prepared Ms Landt was to have saved all of her horses at the property.
“She is the sort of person to be helping everyone else, it is just not in her DNA to ask for help,” she said.
“But the amount of people who have already helped is amazing.
“There are so many considerations when a fire come through, her leadership was just brilliant (on the day).”
Anyone wanting to donate to the cause can do so by visiting https://www.gofundme.com/znhnk6fp.