For the Rural Fire Service and town brigades, there are probably amazing stories of courage on the many occasions they go out and fight fires for our benefit. They take it in their stride.
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And so it was on Wednesday, August 15.
A mixture of expertise, bravery and, yes, luck, prevented a property from being engulfed.
The detail of the big fire near Pinkett south-east of Glen Innes is intriguing. A property on the edge of the blaze was surrounded by flames.
Fire fighters believed they were in great danger and left – but the blaze suddenly stopped on the edge of the property.
Peter Chaffey of the RFS was there and left because he feared for his life. The flames were that close.
When he returned a local person had turned up with water on a trailer and was hosing the roof to keep the flames at bay.
But the fire had switched direction.
At the time, the owners knew nothing about the risk their home was in. Sandra and John Franco, were away at the drought forum in Glen Innes.
They knew there was a big bush-fire in the district but left that morning, thinking their property was safe. They had done all the right things like discussing their bush-fire emergency plan.
But with high winds, the unpredictable happened and the fire jumped Costello’s Road and headed towards their home.
Somehow, within minutes and metres, it stopped. Nobody knows why.
Peter Chaffey, the fire officer in charge of that sector, said it could have been a sudden change of wind. There is also a drive way of bare ground, with packed down earth, around the house where vehicles have pushed down the scant grass.
The property is also tidy and orderly so there isn’t a lot of flammable material lying around. It is manicured without rubbish that might catch light. “There’s not a lot of rubbish like overgrown trees”, said Sandra.
What she knows is that a lot of people put themselves at risk to protect her and her husband’s life’s work.
She said , looking at the blackened earth a few footsteps from her home, her eyes moisting over: “I really want to thank the neighbour who saved this house.
“And I want to thank the RFS and the town brigade. They were amazing, with all their work and all the people on the ground”.