This summer marks 30 years since a devastating fire blasted through Melton, destroying 14 homes and a business on January 14, 1985.
Stephen Hirt, who was then the captain of the CFA’s Region 14 crew at Melton, described the events as “Ash Wednesday all over again”.
“It was like the gates of hell had been opened,” he said at the time.
Thirty years on, Mr Hirt, who is still a volunteer firefighter at Melton, remembers everything about the day.
“It’s gone, but it hasn’t been forgotten,” he said.
He remembers the first call-out to Myrniong that morning at 9am; he remembers the weather – high temperatures and wild winds – and he remembers the conditions: “very dry”.
“The day was similar to a day like Black Saturday,” Mr Hirt said.
“We started in the morning and went to a fire in Myrniong. From then on, our vehicles never came home all day.
“They went to Truganina, Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and Little River. You didn’t think you were going to get home.”
Fourteen houses were lost in the fires in just half an hour, Mr Hirt recalls.
And sheds at Melton Dairy were gutted.
“We didn’t lose any lives; that was the main thing,” Mr Hirt said.
The fire started on the Melton side of Long Forrest Road about 7pm and roared down the gorge by Djerriwarrh Creek.
As reported in The Mail-Express, fierce winds were clocked at 100 kilometres an hour. They forced the flames to leap the former Western highway in several places, splitting the fire toward both Melton and Melton South and bringing traffic to a halt.
“There were no houses on the west side of Arnolds Creek at that time,” Mr Hirt said.
“In the creek, there was a lot of rubble and the wind got it.
“It was like an inferno,” he said. “It just ripped across; it was lighting houses up two streets away.”
Decades on, Mr Hirt says it is “definitely” possible for such fires to happen again.
“It’s a time when we shouldn’t say it couldn’t happen again,” he said.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t.”
Mr Hirt’s son, Jayson, the senior station officer at Melton CFA, is urging the community to remain vigilant for the remainder of this summer and use fire information available on the CFA website and app.
“People shouldn’t fall into a lull, thinking that summer is over. Still be as cautious as you would leading into summer,” Mr Hirt jnr said.
“Make sure your gardens and property are still maintained and ensure driveways have truck access to your property.”
Warm weather is predicted to continue throughout this month and in March.
This story first appeared in the Melton & Moorabool Star Weekly
Be fire ready
For more information on how to be fire-ready, go online to www.cfa.vic.gov.au.
The front page of The Mail-Express, January 16, 1985.
