Inside the

Village Voice
General News .....................3
Your Voice........................14
Schools ............................16
Alive.................................17
Nurture ............................24
Business...........................26
Sport................................30

Editor James Tremain

editor@villagevoice.com.au
9018 3541
Staff reporters Lauren Farrow –
farrowl@couriernews.com.au
Hannah Parkes —
parkesh@couriernews.com.au
Advertising Cameron Speers 9018 3571
Classifieds 1300 364 424
Distribution Marc Bouza 9353 9999
Balmain resident Richard Gould
The Village Voice is printed at with a rescued wombat.
Hannanprint,

The fire’s forgotten victims

55 Doody St, Alexandria, NSW.
ABN 97 100 817 623 Australia Post
Print Post approved: #255003/06198.
Published by Courier Newspapers ABN
40 617 053 550.
Copyright 2006. Contributions do not
necessarily reflect the views of the
publisher.
Every care is taken to ensure the
accuracy of the newspaper’s content. The
editorial opinion does not necessarily
reflect that of the publisher. Original
editorial material and advertisements
remain the property of the newspaper.
Distributed in Balmain, Rozelle, Lilyfield,
Leichhardt, Annandale, Birchgrove
25,000 Copies
Address: 181 First Avenue Five Dock
NSW 2046
Website: wwww.villagevoice.com.au
Phone: 9018 3541
By Lauren Farrow
When Balmain resident Richard
Gould went to the scene of bushfires
in Whittlesea Victoria last month, he
was shocked by what he found.
“I saw areas where fire travelled
at 60km/h, so fast that the tops of the
trees were left unburnt but nothing
below remained,” Mr Gould said.
“I spoke to a 70-year-old man
who lost his home in Kinglake,
escaping with only minutes to spare
with his wife, only to say he was
grateful to have his caravan.”
Keen to help out with the bushfire
effort, Mr Gould volunteered with
the International Fund for Animal
Welfare in February, capturing,
bandaging and feeding wombats,
possums and kangaroos.
More than one million animals
are believed to have died in the fires,
with more deaths expected from
smoke inhalation and starvation,
he said.
“When the animals see a fire
coming they run and often bury
themselves somewhere to survive
the fire. Some of them have smoke
inhalation and die within a few
days. It’s sad because it’s easy to
catch them, which means they are
actually in a severe amount of stress
or injury.”
Mr Gould said the fund’s work
was crucial in coming weeks,
as animals in the wild combat
dehydration and a lack of food.
“Right now the only food available
to them is a fungus that comes up
some days after the fire. The first
green sprouts will come anything
after a week after some decent rain.
But there has been no rain.”
Those animals that have been
saved will now go into rehabilitation
for up to a year in carers’ homes.
To support native animals,
head to Help For Wildlife at www.
helpforwildlife.com or IFAW at
www.ifaw.org.

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Village Voice Balmain March 3