8 January 1969 Fires in Victoria. (Content Warning: May be Distressing)

On 8 January 1969, the temperature climbed to a century. Sixty miles per hour winds swirled in a west-northwesterly direction.

Percy and Ivy, my grandparents, left Bookaar and travelled home to West Footscray. Outside of Geelong they rattled along the Geelong-Melbourne highway and neared Lara.

‘Look at the dark black smoke, Perc,’ exclaimed Ivy.

‘Something must be wrong,’ said Percy. Sweat ran down his face. ‘Cars are turning back. There must be a fire.’

He made a U-turn and headed back in the direction they had come. They pulled up on the side of the road, got down low in the car, and covered themselves with the blanket.

A knock at the driver’s window startled them. Percy peeled back the blanket and wound down the window.

‘Are you alright’, said the policeman.

‘Yes, thank you. We are fine’, said Percy.

Ivy peered out from under the blanket.

‘The fire has moved on. You can move out now. Be careful! Electric wires have fallen along the road. Up ahead, a pole is burning at its base.’

Percy drove slowly.

‘Oh my!’ Ivy said. ‘Blackened pastures. Blackened trees bent over.’

The fire had jumped Geelong Road. They manoeuvred around several burnt out cars with their doors opened. Some charred remains lay by the sides of the road. Human and animals who did not make it to safety.

She made the sign of the cross.

‘Bless their souls. May they rest in peace,’ she said.

Their disbelief showed in their eyes.

                      *
Reflection Statement
This story fits into my childhood memories. I was seven years old on this day in 1969. It was the summer school holidays in Victoria. My grandparents, Percy and Ivy, and my family and I stayed at the farm of Jack and Kate, my granny’s sister and her husband, in Bookaar near Camperdown. I discovered recently that my recollections of this day are quite different from my parents and those reported in the newspapers and magazine. It shows how a force in nature can impact on the mind and memory of a child whether it be real or imagined.

Notes

‘A day of century heat, 60mph winds-and carelessness: 13 killed in Victoria Fires', The Canberra Times, 9 January 1969, p. 1, Accessed 13 August 2018.

‘Action to Counter Fires’, The Canberra Times, 12 September 1969, p. 3, Accessed 14 August 2018.

Black Saturday Museum, ‘Bushfires in Our History: 1969 Lara Fire’, Accessed 13 August 2018.

Bushfire Education Foundation, BEF, ‘Bushfires in Our History: 1969 Lara Fire’, Accessed 13 August 2018.

‘Bushfire is Lara’s theme’, The Weekly Times, 7 January 2009, p. 53.

‘Bushfire toll now 19’, The Canberra Times, 25 January 1969, p. 11; City of Greater Geelong, ‘Past Fires in Geelong’, Accessed 13 August 2018.

‘Conflicting Reports’, The Canberra Times, 12 July 1969, p. 9, Accessed 14 August 2018.
‘Fire Toll now 21’, The Canberra Times, 1 February 1969, p. 10, Accessed 14 August 2018.

‘Fire Tragedy due to Govt Neglect’, Tribune, 22 January 1969, p. 3, Accessed 14 August 2018.

FNWB, ‘Gary Dempsey remembers 1969 Lara bushfires’, 12 February 2009, Accessed 13 August 2018.
‘Inquest is told of Two Lara Fires’, The Canberra Times, 10 June 1969, p. 3, Accessed 14 August 2018.

‘Lara fire victim’, The Canberra Times, 29 January 1969, p. 3, Accessed 13 August 2018.

‘Misadventure Finding: Lara Fire Horror retold in Court’, The Canberra Times, 11 June 1969, p. 3, Accessed 14 August 2018.

‘Motorists told how to survive in Bushfire’, The Canberra Times, 9 January 1969, p. 3, Accessed 14 August 2018.

Ralph and Lois Empey, telephone discussion with Jennifer Empey, 13 August 2018.

‘Report is Sought’, The Canberra Times, 12 June 1969, p. 3, Accessed 14 August 2018.

‘The Lara fires of 1969’, The Geelong Advertiser, 27 November 2015, (page no. unknown).

‘Union urges National Bushfire Conference’, Tribune, 5 February 1969, p. 3, Accessed 13 August 2018.

‘When the Firestorm Struck’, The Australian Women’s Weekly, 22 January 1969, p. 5, Accessed 13 August 2018.

‘Woman died in Home’, The Canberra Times, 11 June 1969, p. 3, Accessed 14 August 2018.

Bibliography

Black Saturday Museum, ‘Bushfires in Our History: 1969 Lara Fire’, Accessed 13 August 2018.

Bushfire Education Foundation, BEF, ‘Bushfires in Our History: 1969 Lara Fire’, Accessed 13 August 2018.

City of Greater Geelong, ‘Past Fires in Geelong’, Accessed 13 August 2018.

FNWB, ‘Gary Dempsey remembers 1969 Lara bushfires’, 12 February 2009, Accessed 13 August 2018.

The Australian Women’s Weekly.

The Canberra Times.

The Geelong Advertiser.

The Weekly Times.

Tribune.