LEAVE AND LIVE.

Mig, Rusty seeking refuge

Wartook resident and pet dog leave area in wake of the fires
Relief centres
Matt Coughlan
WARTOOK resident Mig Mayer left
her home on Wednesday night to seek
refuge from the searing heat at Green
Lake.
She lives in an environmentally
friendly tin shed in Wartook’s Snells
Road area without electricity and just
more than two feet of water in her dam.
She said she was not sure when she
would be able to return.
“It’s just minute by minute, I’m not
sure yet,” Ms Mayer said.
NERVOUS WAIT: Mig Mayer of Wartook at the emergency relief centre in Horsham “It’s a big fire as you know and it’s
with her dog Rusty. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER in such inaccessible terrain.”
Late on Wednesday night, Ms
Mayer was at the lake with her
mate – eight-year-old Jack Russell
Rusty – when she saw the spectacular
electrical storm that sparked fires in
the Grampians.
“Two lightning bolts just went boom
into the fire plumes already burning,
so there was just no let up,” she said.
“It was hairy and as my brother
said – and we’re in our early 50s –
he’s never seen the ferocity and the
colour, the energy in the lightning bolts
coming down.”
Ms Mayer praised the work of
Country Fire Authority volunteers.
“You’ve got to take your hat off to
them haven’t you – they’re doing such
a good job,” she said.
One of her greatest concerns was
her friends and neighbours in Wartook.
“Everyone else has got houses and
that’s the worry,” Ms Mayer said.
“On Wednesday I was at the Happy
Wanderer and when I saw the light-
ning bolts there at Roses Gap Road
I thought they’ve got to be starting
some kind of fire.
“That one up the Pohlners Track
was sort of taking hold that night.”

GRASSFIRES
CAN SURGE UP TO

25
KILOMETRES
AN HOUR ON
RISKY FIRE DAYS.
Grassfires can be as dangerous as bushfires. Know what to do.
Listen to local radio and check for warnings.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO?

visit emergency.vic.gov.au
call 1800 240 667
download the FireReady app
LENDING A HAND: Almost 1000 Facebook users have ‘liked’ the story of
Horsham man Jock Uebergang helping a thirsty possum. Jock helped the
possum sip from his water bottle after a community meeting at Laharum on
Thursday night. The bottle was much emptier once the possum had quenched
its thirst. “You owe me 45 cents,” Mr Uebergang joked as the revitalised possum
sprang up a tree. The Country Fire Authority issued an emergency warning for
Laharum about an hour after the meeting. Picture: EMMA D’AGOSTINO

PAGE 6 Monday January 20 2014 THE MAIL-TIMES HOME DELIVERY phone 5362 0000