General News
15 December, 2022
BlazeAid volunteers help pick up the pieces post-flood
Down on a farm at Lillicur, stretches of fences lay curled away from their original boundary, uprooted by recent flood events — but relief is close, with a volunteer group at the helm of a clean up operation. After setting up a basecamp at...
Down on a farm at Lillicur, stretches of fences lay curled away from their original boundary, uprooted by recent flood events — but relief is close, with a volunteer group at the helm of a clean up operation.
After setting up a basecamp at Moonambel, not-for-profit organisation BlazeAid is helping flood-affected community members in the Pyrenees Shire by clearing debris from their fences, assessing repairs to properties and rebuilding and replacing other structures.
Council staff have been reaching out to residents in impacted areas while around 15 BlazeAid volunteers have been working on properties in Barkly, Moonambel and Lillicur.
“We have support from the wonderful volunteers at BlazeAid,” Pyrenees Shire Council manager economic development Ray Davies said, urging locals requiring help to get in touch with the authorities.
“Even if you’re not ready to begin clean up or fence repair, we strongly recommend getting in contact to set up a chat with the team, so they can
get a sense of what’s needed on properties.”
Taking a short break during the Christmas period from December 17, BlazeAid will return on January 3 to continue their work in helping Pyrenees landholders restring fences and replace or repair fence posts damaged by flooding.
“The beginning of summer fire season is almost upon us, but we also remain aware of the potential for future flooding events with wet conditions,” Mr Davies said.
“I’d particularly urge our rural community who have not sought support for clean up or financial assistance to reach out. You don’t need to take care of this alone.”
Now in their fourth week at the camp, BlazeAid volunteers have put in hours of work to build and place around one a half kilometres of fences while also clearing out about five kilometres worth of debris off of them.
A total of 10 properties are currently being taken care of — with the possibility of more farmers asking for help when the group restarts in January, according to the Moonambel camp co-ordinator Bronwyn Horder.
“We haven’t had a lot of response from farmers and while a lot of their places are still quite wet, they don’t always ask for help,” she said.
“But I think some of them are realising that the job is just too big for them to do on their own. And they’ve realised that we’re here to help and give assistance.”
The camp at Moonambel is the first one Ms Horder and her husband have been assigned to coordinate. Prior to which, they were volunteers at three other locations in Queensland and New South Wales.
“BlazeAid will always go wherever the need is. And, this need arises from natural disasters and it also comes from the shires or the communities realising that their farmers need help and so they put their hand up and ask for that help,” she said.
Providing this necessary help in times of distress to farmers is important for Ms Horder, guiding and motivating her everyday.
“My personal reason for being a member of the organisation is that I can give back to people. In reality, if we didn’t have farmers, we wouldn’t have food. We wouldn’t have clothes on our back,” she said.
“Being a farmer is one of the most important things that a person can do in life.
“I think being part of BlazeAid as an organisation — it’s just the sheer joy of being able to see the smiles on a farmer’s face when they walk around their paddock after it’s cleared instead of having to look at fences that have been either burnt or flood damaged, full of debris.
“You send out a team of people to help and it’s an amazing feeling after.”
Ms Horder provides assistance to farmers like Robert Muller, the owner of the flood-affected property in Lillicur, and there’s no mistaking the smile on his face.
“The flood came in and damaged the fences, took them out of where they were and then dumped them somewhere else. It’s just a labor intensive job of clearing the debris off the fence, and then trying to salvage what we can,” Mr Muller said.
“The help from BlazeAid is really appreciated. It takes time and effort and I’ve got my normal jobs to do as well. It’s really really great that they’re willing to come and help.
“I think BlazeAid is a really important organisation, whether it’s fires or floods, they help.”
After receiving aid from the organisation, Mr Muller is also urging people to sign up to be part of BlazeAid and help out if they can.
“I’d like to encourage people that if they’ve got the time, and they’re reasonably active, they should really consider being a part of groups like BlazeAid,” he said.
“There’s a lot of devastation in places and we’ve gotta get out and do the work.”
To find support, contact the Pyrenees Shire Council on 1300 797 363.
