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The owners of a bed and breakfast in Lake Ōhau ran a “mad rush” on their property overnight to find their pet lamb and cat still alive nearly three days after a fire destroyed their home.
The fire, which broke out early Sunday morning, had spread over more than 5,500 hectares. The perimeter of the fire was 48.8 kilometers, at least 1,900ha of the fire had burned conservation land and up to 50 houses had been destroyed.
Winds of up to 160 km / h made fighting the fires difficult Tuesday morning. Since then, the gusts had slowed to around 40 km / h, allowing some 12 residents to briefly visit their homes in the fire-ravaged Lake Ōhau village.
Barn at Killin bed and breakfast co-owners Dwayne Rennie and Hugh Spiers took one of three buses into the village on Monday armed with a bottle of formula, hoping to find their beloved pets but were not allowed. Get off the bus.
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Bejon Haswell / Stuff
The Barn at Killin after the fire.
Rennie said Stuff At approximately 10.30pm on Tuesday, he had just returned from a “mad rush” to his place, which felt like “driving through an apocalypse.”
“But we got to what was left of our house and Hugh ran in one direction calling for Gladys the little lamb, who started bleating and drank 2 liters of milk formula.
“I ran towards the house and heard my cat Coco cry, I think she came out of [a neighbour’s house]”.
In a post on Facebook, Rennie said they were escorted by a fire truck to see if there was any hope of finding Coco and Gladys alive after seeing an aerial photograph taken by Stuff your house damaged for the first time.
“The concern for them over the past few days, along with all the other disturbances and heartbreaks, has been terrible, so the incredible relief to find them both alive and well was simply overwhelming.
Bejon Haswell / Stuff
Dwayne Rennie is one of the co-owners of Barn at Killin on Lake Ōhau.
“We drove through our property in dim light, desperately wanting to see the devastation of our home and land, but we tried to focus on the mission of rescuing our pets.”
Upon arrival, they found his home a “crumpled mess”.
Gladys spent the night at a neighbor’s farm, while Coco stayed with Rennie and Spiers.
“Tomorrow, our family looks forward to returning to the remains of our home in the light of day and assimilating the magnitude of the devastation, so that we can regroup and figure out how to make a new start.”
