When 82-year-old Jan Sporry and her husband had to pack up and leave their home in regional Victoria – possibly for the last time – they struggled to choose what to take with them.
The couple and their kelpie Ruby moved to a disaster relief centre in Seymour on Thursday as firefighters fought blazes in the worst heatwave since the 2019-20 black summer bushfire season. The state braced for a day of catastrophic fire danger on Friday.
Sporry said she didn’t know if the “beautiful” home they’ve lived in since 1986 would “be there when we get back”.
“We wanted to pack up what was precious,” she said. “We’ve got photos and documents, some of my needlework that is framed, but what do you take when you have a house full of stuff you want to keep? We just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope.”
In the relief centre set up at the Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre, Sporry was among the community members gathered for a town hall meeting on Thursday night. Several people with caravans were settling in for the night, evacuees from the fire area.
Maree, a Seymour local for eight years, said she and her two boys – who both live with disabilities – were ready to evacuate. Their packs with water, radios and ID were all set.
“I was here for the black summer fires, so that’s why I’ve come to the meeting,” she said. “I know what happened then, so I would rather be 100% sure what’s going on now, rather than wait for the last minute.”
“Everyone is ready to go if we need to go.”
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
The fires burning at Longwood were threatening to spread further on Thursday, the Country Fire Authority said, with residents of some nearby towns advised it was too late to leave and to shelter indoors.
The chief officer of the CFA, Jason Heffernan, warned conditions on Friday would be “dire”, including potential wind gusts of up to 100km/h.
“We’re going to be in the mid to upper end of the [40C] spectrum, particularly in the northern part of the state,” he said.
“[Friday] is a very, very dire bushfire day in the state of Victoria.”
At the supermarket in Seymour there were noticeable gaps on the shelves: bottles of water are almost gone, batteries all bought up.
As the staff moved to restock on Thursday evening, residents were filling trolleys with supplies. One man’s was piled with two-minute noodles – packets upon packets. He nodded at the cashier on his way out, ready to hunker down.
In the car park, June and her kids, aged 14 and 10, were loading litres and litres of water into the back of her small car.
“It’s scary,” she said as she pointed to the sky. In the distance, white clouds merged with grey smoke from the bushfire burning in nearby Longwood on Thursday.
“Everyone is worried. It is not far from us, so we are just preparing. Anything could happen.”
For the communities near Kinglake and Marysville, the shadow of the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, and the renewed threat in the 2019-20 bushfire season, hangs in the air.
“My friend, she had her bag packed in 2019, checked it this week, and it is still all there,” June said. “Everything in it, unopened.”
The state MP for Eildon, Cindy McLeish, whose catchment includes areas with watch and act warnings in place, said the community was anxious.
“People are very anxious and fearful,” she said.
McLeish was sure some would “be stubborn” and stay to defend their homes, adding her “dad would have been one of them”, but that most of the community was watching and preparing to leave.
“People are vigilant,” McLeish said. “This isn’t going to be controlled overnight, and things could get worse tomorrow.”
A total fire ban was in place for all of Victoria for Friday, with many districts given a “catastrophic” fire danger rating.
Heffernan said fires had the potential to spread rapidly on Friday.
“Do not wait for a warning,” he said.
As June was getting into her car on Thursday night, she looked up at the sky, her hands clasped together.
“Now, we just pray for rain,” she said.
A few hours later, her prayers were briefly answered as a light shower fell over Seymour. But it was not nearly enough to ward off the risk.
