'This was a safe place': Harcourt's heart in ruins but community stands strong
SOURCE:ABC Australia|BY:Josie Taylor and Danielle Bonica
In a region famed for its lush pastoral farmland, locals thought Harcourt was less likely to be hit than neighbouring bush towns Castlemaine and Barkers Creek.
Framed by blackened hills, 69-year-old David Jeffries steps out of a small white campervan onto scorched ground.
A hawk floats above the rubble of the farmhouse the former graphic designer was doing up on the outskirts of Harcourt.
"I've lost everything. I've lost my grandfather's books, my paintings. Family photos. It's all gone, I'm not the only one," he said.
David Jeffries says he has "lost everything" in the bushfire. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Fire ignited north of the apple-growing region of Harcourt in central Victoria on Friday afternoon.
By that evening flames, fanned by fierce winds, were running down hills into the Harcourt Valley and the township, razing three local businesses and 47 homes.
Mr Jeffries's home was one of them, and the pensioner wasn't insured.
"I can't afford insurance," he said.
"So many people haven't got insurance because of the cost of living. If you're on a basic pension and you've got 45 acres and a five-bedroom farmhouse … it's quite prohibitive."
In a region famed for its lush pastoral farmland, Mr Jeffries and others thought the area was less likely to be hit than neighbouring bush towns Castlemaine and Barkers Creek.
"I watched [the flames] from Harcourt, and every time I saw a big black plume I thought it was someone else's life."
The remains of David Jeffries's home in Harcourt. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Despite the ordeal, Mr Jeffries said he would stay on his property.
He jokes that he still has cold beer in a solar-powered fridge, and has been watching Blackadder and Carry On Up the Khyber videos on his phone to keep his spirits up.
He doesn't want sympathy; he said he was lucky.
"I don't want someone coming around here with a hanky. I want someone coming round here and steering me in the right direction.
"People are very proud around here, we are not parasites. We don't take."
Patrick Pratt and Claudia Doolan's rental property was destroyed. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Over the fence on the neighbouring property, Patrick Pratt and his wife Claudia Doolan survey the burnt-out ruins of what was once their rental property.
Twin chimneys stand tall among a thicket of roof tiles and the remnants of a 130-year-old weatherboard.
Directly across from the ruined house is Mount Alexander, the Dja Dja Wurrung's Leanganook.
Smoke still billows from the mountain, with CFA tankers and helicopters working constantly to fight the fire that's burning on both sides.
"This was a safe place," Ms Doolan whispers to herself.
Mr Pratt, 36, points to the stove and what was once above it.
"The mantelpiece had my grandfather's clock, Claudia's mum's ashes, our dog's ashes."
Patrick Pratt stands inside the remains of his home. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
The musician, artist and cafe worker left the property with his sons before the fire, with just his pets and guitar.
Everything else from his home is gone.
"It was pretty idyllic at times, we had good family times," Ms Doolan said as she stared at the oak tree still standing.
The couple had recently separated but said the fire had made them reassess their priorities.
Smoke still billows over parts of Harcourt. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Ms Doolan said the couple's biggest challenge would be to find a new home.
"There was already a scarcity of houses available to rent. There's a lot of holiday rentals in Castlemaine that take up the rental market," she said.
"There just isn't enough to go around."
The couple drives away to an appointment with the local op shop that's opened specifically for them.
The only possessions they carry with them are a metal goanna and an old coffee cup that belonged to Ms Doolan's mother.
Claudia Doolan salvaged a coffee cup that belonged to her mother. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Amazingly, their chooks survived.
One of the couple's chickens that survived the fire. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Harcourt sits in the middle of Victoria's gold-rush district, a stone's throw from the thriving artistic hub of Castlemaine.
It's a region dotted with boutique wineries, apple orchards and cider farms and its heart is the Coolstore Co-operative, an enormous metal structure.
Harcourts Coolstore Co-operative, an enormous metal structure, was destroyed in the fire. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
It's where 85 local businesses store goods and it has operated continuously since 1917.
But despite the brave efforts of locals and the CFA, the Coolstore, and its neighbour the Coolstore Cafe were destroyed.
All the stock inside the Coolstore has been destroyed. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Melted sheets of aluminium drape like cloth over steel beams as broken bottles spill out onto blackened earth.
Several cars were destroyed in the bushfire in Harcourt. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
The sweet tang of burnt wine and beer hangs in the air as cockatoos circle and cry.
Harcourt resident Sam Upton has come back to see what's left of the warehouse storing props for her real estate styling business.
Sam Upton in front of what was her warehouse. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
"To look inside and see nothing. Sofas, beds, dining tables, chairs, cushions, everything we had just gone. It doesn't look like there's been anything in there."
Like David Jeffries, she never thought Harcourt township would burn.
"This is one of the reasons we decided to build a house on a block closer to town. Because I was worried about the threat of bushfires further out," she said.
Fire crews are still working to extinguish embers in Harcourt. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Thinking of what's next was almost impossible, Ms Upton said, as residents were still without power, water and communication.
There's little to no internet or phone reception within the township of Harcourt and surrounds.
Mark Dorian says there is a tight bond in Harcourt. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Around the corner from the burnt out Coolstore, the Harcourt Football Netball Club is an oasis of green with burnt, black edges.
Club president Mark Dorian is carrying boxes of supplies to feed locals at a barbecue.
"Harcourt is a big enough town that it has people of all walks and types but it's small enough [that] we all know each other and that makes it a really tight bond."
Mark Dorian says it is important that people support one another. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
The locksmith survived the deadly Black Saturday bushfires in 2009 in Clobinane, and said the sirens, smoke and choppers circling overhead in Harcourt were all too familiar.
"We just need to be here for each other. More importantly, people together can overcome these things and that's all we need at the moment, is each other."
The Harcourt community gathered together for a barbecue. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
A few hours later locals trickle in to the recently opened Harcourt tourist attraction, the Victorian Miniature Railway, which was saved from the flames.
They're gathering to meet, talk, and thank their CFA volunteers.
Rhian Selwood, 19, fills up tomato sauce bottles at a trestle table.
She's still reeling from the fires and said it was better to keep busy.
Rhian Selwood's family home was saved by their neighbours. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Her family's nearby home was saved by neighbours, but most in her street are gone.
"Feel a bit of guilt that your house is still standing when everyone else's is gone," the Harcourt netballer said.
"We were staying in Bendigo but it felt wrong being away from everyone, you just want to be with people. Especially knowing we have a house and clothes and everything and other people don't."
The family that saved her home stands just a few metres away.
The Wilsons fought to save their family home and their neighbours' on the outskirts of Harcourt. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
CFA veterans May and Peter Wilson had their granddaughter and her partner at home with them, and they used what they had on hand to save both their property and the Selwoods'.
"Buckets and hoses," 80-year-old Mr Wilson said.
The Wilsons' children and grandchildren volunteer at multiple brigades in Central Victoria.
But Stephanie Hull said when the flames bore down on them, the tankers were all busy, and she and her partner fought the flames alongside her grandparents.
"Extremely scary. I honestly thought I was going to die," Ms Hull said.
The CFA fire brigade from Harcourt has been hard at work fighting the blaze. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
The Harcourt CFA brigade arrived at the barbecue to hugs, applause and tears.
Peter Wilson's granddaughters Megan and Kate were among them.
They've been fighting fires since Friday and said there was no rest in sight.
Sisters Megan and Kate Wilson have been fighting the fire. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
"Fire doesn't stop for anyone. People have lost everything so we just got to keep going. Lots of people are relying on us," Megan Wilson said.
"Being here today, everyone is so appreciative. It means a lot actually."
As the locals gathered to thank their volunteers, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a visit to the ruins of Coolstore a few kilometres away.