The weather forecast for eastern Victoria on January 26, 2003 was catastrophic.
Hot temperatures and winds of more than 100 kilometres an hour were predicted to fuel bushfires already burning in the Great Dividing Range.
Weeks earlier, after dry lighting struck the area on January 8, 87 fires started.
Most were quickly controlled, but eight fires jumped containment lines, and would eventually join to create the biggest bushfire in Victoria since 1939.
By the time it was quelled, 60 days later, the blaze had burned 1.3 million hectares, and threatened towns such as Bright, Mitta Mitta, Benambra, Omeo, Buchan, and Swifts Creek.
'I'll never forget'
Ben Rankin was the incident controller at the time with the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA). He said six years of drought had created the catastrophic conditions.
"There are two days I'll never forget — January 26 being one of them," he said.
"We knew every piece of fuel would light and burn very easily. It was just so dry.
"We had prepared well, but we didn't expect it to come in with such ferocity or intensity as it did."
Caught in the fire
No lives were lost in the 2003 fires, but there were countless close calls.
Kelvin Pendergast was driving through paddocks on his property near Benambra, trying to protect his farm and home, when he was caught in the fire front.
He remembers wind so fierce he couldn't open the door on his ute, and smoke so thick he couldn't see the car's bull bar.
"I just said, 'let's just pull up and have a listen, to see whether we could hear any fire'. We turned the vehicle off, stepped out and it was just roaring," he said.
"By the time we got back in the vehicle, the fire went straight through the trees, which we were parked underneath, and went over the top of us.
"It was like this big sausage roll of flame rolling through the sky about 30 metres above you.
"It certainly was scary."
Livestock losses devastating
John Cook was the Country Fire Authority (CFA) division commander In Benambra, a farming town of a few hundred people in 2003.
His local knowledge of the area is often credited with saving lives and property in the area.
But Mr Cook acknowledges things could easily have been very different.
"I stepped outside and saw these fireballs, and they hit [near Benambra] with a hell of an explosion," he said.
"I thought if that fire had come my way, I wouldn't be standing here today. It would've taken out all of Benambra.
"But it moved north-east and took out hundreds of cattle instead. Blew 'em to bits."
It's estimated up to 10,000 head of livestock were killed.
Mr Pendergast remembers the aftermath, having to shoot dozens of animals that hadn't died in the fire front but were injured beyond saving.
"You'd never forget a thing like that," he said.
Record fire runs
The nearby town of Omeo was also surrounded by the fire.
Four days later, on January 30, houses at Omeo and Cobungra were burned to the ground, as residents protected their houses with garden hoses and buckets of water.
A total of 41 homes were destroyed in the fires across the state.
Mr Rankin said the fire ran a total of 43 kilometres on January 30 — the longest run ever recorded — from near Benambra through to Gelantipy.
It also threatened Swifts Creek to the south, where Mr Rankin said a lucky wind change came early and saved the town of about 400 people.
"Otherwise we would've had fire right into the township of Swifts Creek, and probably significant losses," he said.
An estimated 15,000 people were directly involved in fighting the fires, often working upwards of 20 hours a day, while countless more helped to provide accommodation, supplies, and food for frontline firefighters.
The fire burnt for a total of 60 days, with rain finally falling in late February.
The fire was declared under control by March 7.
Community recovery
Benambra Neighborhood House manager Trudy Anderson, who helped protect her parents' property in 2003, said the fires left lasting trauma in the area.
"After the fires, we were so busy with the recovery," she said.
"Back then people also had a lot of pride, they were hardy.
"A lot of people didn't really want to share their emotions or feelings because everyone was going through it.
"There was no time to overthink what they'd been through."
Len Jeffs was the CFA deputy incident controller and also the owner of the local IGA in Benambra.
"We'd have people coming in absolutely shattered. They didn't know what to do, where to go," he said.
"To see some of those people who lost cattle and lost their livelihood. A 70-year-old man come in, tough as old boots, and broke down in tears.
"It brings a tear to your eye."
It's part of why Ms Anderson and the Neighbourhood House hosted a get-together to commemorate the fire's 20th anniversary.
"There was no pressure to attend — everyone works through trauma in their own way," she said.
"But it was just for people to come together, share some stories, and have a few laughs, as well as a few tears."
Not a once-in-a-lifetime fire
For Mr Rankin, he thought managing 2003 would be a "career fire", the likes of which he might never see again.
But it was matched just three years later, when more than a million hectares burned over 69 days in 2006.
"It's been very challenging for this part of the state. We've had major impacts from the fires now over and over again … including in 2019-20," he said.
"That's something that concerns everybody. And I know the department is certainly working on that with really science-based risk-reduction strategies.
"We hope that we can do what we can to minimise the risk of it ever happening again."
