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Vanessa Rader’s family home is in Malua Bay, one of the worst affected regions in the bushfires. Smoke has been blanketing her town since Christmas, however, New Year’s Eve was the scariest time of all. By 8.30am the power was already cut, phone service was gone and the whole suburb had darkened. A combination of dark smoke and an orange/red glow from the nearby fires gaining momentum.
“By about 10am, the beach was a parking lot of cars, with the local surf club guiding traffic to park along the grass park on the beachside and to register in the club. There were people of all ages, dogs, horses, cages with chicken, people all over trying to work out what to do all while the black smoke made it difficult to breath” Vanessa explained.
Over the next 48 hours, Vanessa, her husband and two girls took all the steps to keep their home and lives safe and explored their local area, assessing the huge amount of loss that people had suffered.
“We met with a couple of the homes neighbouring our land cutting down trees so they didn’t fall onto their homes. We helped and met a number of locals in the street who stayed and defended their house. Many of these locals still had some gas power so we provided them with the food we had in our fridge/freezer. For those who didn’t have gas and power, we offered our home for showers and washing.”
“We saw some locals really band together; a woodfire pizza shop offering free food outside their restaurant in Batehaven, once they got power up, they were cooking for the RFS. We got a pizza there while we were waiting for our electricity.”
The local surf club also opened up providing showering facilities for those without, and donations have poured in with our club now resembling a supermarket with the number of donations, both food, nappies, sanitary items, milk and water.
The community spirit is remaining fierce in the Malua Bay region. Tents are set up and it’s a time where locals can just sit and chat, have a free coffee, maybe something for breakfast and talk about how they are going.
“It's been a time where I have got to meet lots of new people, not only my local neighbours but many local heroes who stayed to defend houses and save properties. The local businesses helping with food, our IGA being our source of information... we would often go down there and just find out what's happening and come back with some freshly baked bread or milk as they just got a delivery.”
“We tried to be there for those without power offering hot showers or accommodation for those who needed sleep. However, the initial threat has gone and the generous donations have been amazing. The beach remains closed as it's blanketed in ash but we are lucky to have our home intact and to have had enough food to keep us going during the times of no power.”
“It will still be some time until the area recovers with a number of home losses and the hub of the Malua Club now gone… but I know we will recover.”
