by Roderick McKillop
Preparations were well underway. The annual Shoreham CFA Christmas party was advanced as our guests were beginning to drift in. It was December 15 1995, and this event was a highlight in our calendar.
Our general optimism was tinged with it being a rather unpleasant day. The wind was from the north, it was blustery and showing no sign of abating. With any luck, it would drop out in the evening, as it usually did, and we would have a very convivial party.
Things took a turn for the worse in the early afternoon as there was some chatter on the base station radio. It was apparent that a fire had broken out in Greens Bush [part of the Mornington Peninsula National Park – to the west of Flinders and north of Cape Schanck]. Hopefully, the immediate brigades could manage it successfully. Nonetheless, Bill Kleiss (our captain) put us on standby just in case. Even though there was no smoke apparent from the station, neighbouring brigades were being summoned and it now appeared only a matter of time before Shoreham was called.
The conditions continued to deteriorate and the call came. It had clearly escalated into a major fire. The horizon to the northwest told the story. As our tanker laboured up the ridge line, the plume of black smoke was very angry in its appearance. There was no chance we were going to be back for the party. It was going to be a long evening of a different sort.
Those at our base station in Shoreham could monitor our frequency and track our involvement. After our initial call out, appliances would then change to a fire ground channel. Judy Kleiss and Mike Wilding were particularly interested and were privy to our situation. Like most major fires, it was pretty chaotic upon our arrival. All of the appliances were lined up along Baldrys Road and a helicopter was above us with the incident controller on board.
The decision was taken to send in a strike team of five tankers to the head of the fire. This was to be accomplished via a fire access track running at right angles to Baldrys Road. Boneo was the lead tanker followed by Shoreham with the rest to follow. In essence, we were cutting across the fire front with a view to impede its progress. What could go wrong?!
We had not progressed far when it was apparent that the vegetation was very dense – but soldier on we did. The smoke had become very heavy so we allowed some space between Boneo and ourselves. We came to a halt when we came upon Boneo breached on a stump with its sump ruptured.
By this stage things were getting critical. Tankers 3,4 and 5 wisely had retreated (unaware of our predicament) because the fire was steaming down upon us. As an aside, there was one vivid recollection, and that was the noise the fire front was making as it came in our direction. Adjectives don’t quite get it right, so suffice to say it was peculiar to that situation. From that point on Bill Kleiss made some very good decisions. We topped up our tanker with Boneo water and headed to a nearby clearing with the Boneo crew on board. We obviated a flashover by getting out our fire lighters and lighting the bush 20 metres in towards the fire and let it burn back to us.
In the meantime, Bill was frantically on the radio looking for support. I have no doubt Judy Kleiss and Mike Wilding were beside themselves with worry as they listened to Bill call for help.
As if nothing had happened, we emerged through the black where we should have been in the first instance. The fire was eventually brought under control and a lot of blacking out transpired. I doubt if the Christmas party was still in session when we returned, but I have no recollection of that.
I suppose that fire might be termed a “close call.”
Post Script:
What was obvious during the blacking out phase were the thousands of Xanthorrhoea Australis [Grass Trees]. I visited that area of bush the following spring and there they were in their splendour, with long spikes and their flowers on display unimpeded by any canopy above them.
Written by Roderick McKillop (2023).