Chased by fires

By Melissa Meehan
FOR Julie Bell, hell came out of a clear blue sky with the sound of “one thousand lions roaring”.
The Warburton resident and her three daughters are among the miracle survivors of Black Saturday, after spending a week being chased around the state by bushfires.
The contrast with the start of Julie’s week – a blissful country weekend break in Marysville – could not have been more stark.
“About 4pm we were swimming at the pool and noticed people looking up at the sky,” Julie said.
“I looked up to see the sky blue on one side and the other had had billowing smoke and red clouds.
“It was very eerie.”
Her attempts to find out what was happening were hampered with conflicting reports from locals, the information centre and emergency services workers.
“I then decided it was time to go,” Julie said.
On the way back to the house where she was staying, Julie saw a woman pinned in her car under a fallen tree.
A local man and his son were using a chainsaw to cut the tree off the car.
“It was just amazing, people who should have been leaving to save themselves were then promising the woman they would not leave until she was safe,” she said.
Forty-five minutes later an ambulance arrived to take the woman to safety.
Julie bundled her young daughters into the car, followed by her parents in the car behind and headed for the closest exit.
“We were told that all exits to the town were closed and told to go to the golf course,” Julie said.
“But just as we arrived the same ambulance that moved the injured woman from her car had returned from Alexandra and told us the road was still open.”
More than 100 people then rushed to their cars in an attempt to leave the town.
“As we were leaving my six-year-old daughter asked what the roaring sound was – I knew it was the fire,” she said.
Travelling at speeds of 100 kilometres an hour, Julie and her family finally reached the relief centre at Alexandra.
The generosity of Alexandra locals can still bring a smile to Julie’s face.
“They came to the centre and offered my family a bed in their home,” she said.
“It was just so heart-warming that people could help complete strangers so much.”
Before long however, Julie was facing yet another fire threat.
“I was woken by Lindy and Rod saying I had to make a decision to leave now or stay and help them fight the fire,” Julie said.
“I had no energy to leave so we stayed, all lying together on the bedroom floor, covered in wet towels.”
On the weekend, Julie and her family faced yet another threat with urgent warnings for townships in the Upper Yarra area including Big Pats Creek, East Warburton, Warburton, Millgrove, Yarra Junction, Wesburn and Seville.
She is now staying with friends in Mill Park – her third major move since Black Saturday.