The first James Smith knew of the fire that threatened his property on Myrtle Mountain Road (Wyndham, NSW), was when his neighbour, Rodney Grant, came by around 3.30pm to alert him to a spot fire just a few metres down from his letterbox.
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They called 000 immediately and the Wyndham RFS responded approximately 10 minutes later and multiple fire crews from Candelo, Pambula, Merimbula and Rocky Hall.
The fire quickly spread west up and around James' property. It also spread east and south, ultimately encompassing 80 hectares.
As fire crews fought the fire, James, 58, walked around his property with a backpack spray pump he used to put out small spotfires around his property.
James was lucky. The RFS responded quickly. His sheep had eaten all the grass to the barest of stubble, leaving little purchase for fire. The wind changed direction away from his property, though sadly across several more.
Leaning on a phrase he used when he was an aircraft engineer for QANTAS, he said "all the holes in the Swiss cheese lined up".
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Things lined up for residents of Devils Hole, west and north of him. If wind conditions had changed slightly, little would have been able to stop the spread of the fire from his property into the bush, where fighting it would have become much more difficult.
At the edge of the fire closest to Devils Hole, James used his backpack spray pump to contain the fire, even before he went back to contain one of his own fields. He knew the risk of embers and the likely catastrophic result if Devils Hole caught alight.
In the end, besides a few hectares of burnt out land, the main damage to his property were some parts of fencing with wooden posts, and the mailbox he made in the Wyndham Men's Shed. Additional protection was given through the creation of a massive fire break around and through his property by a local bulldozer operator.
His sheep, cows and chickens and alpaca were all safe. Though he mentioned a couple of times the brush tailed possum he found burned to death, clearly moved.
The cause of the fire is unknown. The general consensus, given the fire started next to Myrtle Mountain Road, is it was due to a cigarette butt. Though, of course there could be several reasons. Irrespective, the damage is the same and fortunately very little with no human life lost. It can be difficult to reconcile that luck with the tragic events in Cobargo and elsewhere.
Right now, anticipating Saturday's potentially catastrophic conditions, James is planning to stay at his property if he can. Ironically, the burned out bush and fields provide protection from one side. But Devils Hole looms to the other.
As James said, he plans to take it "day by day, sweet Jesus".
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