It has been eight short weeks since fires at Scotsburn destroyed 12 homes, obliterated shedding and killed livestock.
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That’s barely long enough to begin to comprehend the kind of loss residents have undergone, let alone to start rebuilding. Convoys of stock feed and truckloads of assistance in the form of household goods have been brought in. Insurance companies have begun the process of assessment and payment, counsellors have entered into the community to aid those struggling with their losses.
For builder Michael Schmid, the loss was complete. Arriving in Australia from Germany in 1988, his home of 28 years was burned to the ground around him as he sheltered in the cellar. Lucky to survive, he described the terror and the sadness of staying to protect your home and losing the fight against bushfire.
“I went out for some shopping in the morning when a neighbour notified me that there was a fire.
“I realised the entire bush was on fire and hurried back; met some neighbours who all were leaving and I notified them that I would try to defend my property and that I would stay.
“By the time I got back I got a phone call from my daughter, mad at me that I should (choose) to stay. As I talked to her the first ember attacks occurred and the fire started within seconds, and it was all around me. I tried to defend outside as long as I could until it was impossible to be out there anymore, and I realised I couldn’t make a difference; so I went inside the house and watched the fire attacking the house in an unbelievable way.
“You have to keep going. I have to keep working now to make a living. It’s hard because virtually I was left with what I was wearing."
- Michael Schmid
“Flames were virtually horizontal, not vertical, and I realised the house, the fire was getting under the roof, and smoke was built up so heavily inside that I retreated to the cellar. I stayed in the cellar until I could see through the cellar window that the major front must have passed.
“That’s when I climbed out of the cellar and tried to do something on the outside, but the house was so badly ablaze… the pumps stopped working and I couldn't make any difference anymore. I had to sit there and watch it burn down. The wind was unbelievable, it was too strong.
Michael says he thought that the house would stop burning, that the fire would end – but it didn’t.
“I realised a single person without water couldn’t do anything. The house peeled apart, bit by bit.”
“I couldn't do much there but I was able to help in the neighbourhood; the house next door was still intact though all the sheds were gone. I went over there and extinguished the fires around the place.
“I went to hospital. The doctor wanted me to stay overnight because I was badly smoke-affected, that the oxygen exchange in my lungs wasn’t good. The next morning I just wanted to.. I said I’m out of here. It was a bit hard to breathe but I realised it was just a matter of time until I came good again.
The loss of everything – his house, his treasured belongings from Germany and memories of his children – still wakes Michael in the night.
“You have to keep going. I have to keep working now to make a living. It’s hard because virtually I was left with what I was wearing. I didn’t even have a mobile anymore because I left it on the table; I tried to find it but there was too much smoke in the house; I was going blind trying to get my laptop and other things.
“It was impossible; it was just running and panicking and things like that. Losing the truck, losing all the tools, losing everything that I’ve worked for the past thirty years… I have plenty of work, but I had to come back and try to get Jose (Fernandez of Cafe Meigas) sorted out, because he wanted to open. I got him working.”
Michael said there’s nothing left to recover from the ashes of his home. He has to begin again entirely. He has been given somewhere to stay by friends, but is fiercely independent. Nevertheless, he is visibly moved recalling the generosity of his Scotsburn neighbours.
“I just have to do it in smaller steps now, bit by bit. I have enormous support from friends and people I don’t even know. My old friend George, a farmer out there, he lost quite a bit; the first thing he said to me after the fire, he said, ‘you take the ute’. That was very humbling. The Australian spirit, it comes into play there, it’s fantastic. It helps a lot.”