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Sheep breeder Grant Murray drove straight to the huge Lake Ōhau fire on Sunday morning to save his cattle.
Murray was woken up at 4.30am by a neighbor who called him to say that it appeared there was a fire burning on his farm.
Having spent Saturday night at Geraldine, after dropping off his children at his grandmother’s house, Murray faced a journey of about 170 kilometers to return to his farm in Ribbonwood south of Lake Ōhau.
He said he immediately called the shepherd at the scene, Bevin Forbes, to raise the alarm and asked him to go and open the doors so the sheep had a better chance of fleeing the fire.
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Murray then hit the road and headed straight for the fire.
When he arrived at the farm between 6.30 and 7 in the morning, it was so dark that he could not see the full extent of the fire.
“It was good on fire, smoke everywhere.”
“We just went around trying to decide where the wind was pushing the fire and first we took the material out of those blocks, taking them to the country that had already been burned.”
Steve Simmons / Supplied
Sheep breeder Grant Murray said there were times when he was quite scared by the fire that swept through the Lake Ohau area.
The fire “was all around us.”
“I thought I was pretty safe at one point and went up a track and by the time I reached the top and looked down, the fire had already crossed the track behind me. I was pretty scared after that. He made it very real. “
GOOGLE MAPS / Things
The location of Ribbonwood Station south of Lake Ōhau.
Murray said Forbes’ efforts to open the doors had helped save inventory and without it they could have lost many more inventory.
“Bevin Forbes did an incredible job in very difficult conditions.
“It was very difficult. It was so windy that the sheep were seeking shelter out of the wind, so it was not easy to find them.
“It definitely helped us get [the ewes] outside. I couldn’t have asked for more. ”
He said they continued to work through the morning to help protect the farm as strong winds fanned the surrounding fire.
“Even after midmorning it was like it was dark, there was so much smoke. The wind was strong, blowing the smoke straight at you. Visibility was very low, ”he said.
With the help of farm staff and neighbors, Murray began making farm vehicle fire breaks.
“At lunchtime we were concentrating on firebreaks around some trees. If it had entered those, it would have continued on the neighbor’s property and then another DOC reservation between us and Omarama. “
Supplied
This image captured by Steve Simmons shows the fire burning Sunday morning.
Murray said he was running on adrenaline all day.
“At that time we were only doing things because it was necessary to do it. Much of the time I was thinking ‘Jesus, is what I’m doing really going to do anything?’ but now I can look back and think ‘yeah, even our old starter made enough firewalls to slow it down and stop it in places,’ ”he said.
Later that day, it was a relief to receive some support from fire crews, who had initially focused their efforts on Lake Ōhau village and getting people out, he said.
“A lot of resources were thrown at us, with helicopters and ground controllers and people who knew what they were doing, rather than farmers who were just doing the best they could.”
Bejon Haswell / Things / Things
Burned dirt along Lake Ōhau Rd. Grant Murray said that between half and two-thirds of his farm is charred.
Murray is still counting his cattle, but estimates that he could have lost between 100 and 180 sheep from a herd of 1800.
However, he said the damage to the herd goes beyond the dead sheep. Of the injured sheep, some will have to be slaughtered and others will not be able to feed the lambs they carry.
Murray said some of the ewes went into premature labor due to stress.
“I picked up a couple of lambs that I will take home this morning and will try to keep them alive, but they are too premature so I think their chances are pretty slim,” he said.
How Stuff He interviewed Murray, the lambs bleating in the background.
Murray said the impact of the fire would be felt for “a long time.”
He said that of the 2,500 hectares he cultivates, “between half and two-thirds are black.”
GOOGLE MAPS / Things
The location of Ribbonwood Station south of Lake Ōhau.
“Everything that has gone through the fire is going to take at least six months to recover. We will be chasing our tail for a while yet.
“The fence posts have been burned and the gates lay flat on the ground. While driving yesterday, I was wondering where to start to be honest. “
Murray said he couldn’t put a number on the economic impact of the fire, but it was “a significant number.”
He said he could get insurance on dead stocks, but “ongoing effects on stocks, I don’t think they’re insurable.”
He said they were “very lucky that the buildings were not damaged, which is quite surprising. Much of that is due to the good work of the firefighters who were in that corner of time.
