General News
19 January, 2026
Blaze reignites memories of ’77
AS the recent bushfire surged through Carranballac, Robert Fraser did not hesitate. He was at Lake Bolac when the call came through. Within minutes, he was on the road with his private fire-fighting tanker, heading back toward the country where he grew up, and where his family’s ties still run deep.
“I’m a Carranballac boy, really,” Fraser said, standing this week among blackened paddocks at his sister’s property, assessing the damage left behind by a fire that tore through on one of the hottest, windiest days of the summer.
As the fire took hold, there was little anyone could do.
“Once it got going, it just ran,” he said, “There wasn’t time to do much more than get out of the way and hope.”
Fraser has lived with fire before.
In 1977, he was in Streatham when another major blaze ran through the district, a memory that returned sharply as flames crossed familiar ground last Friday.
“That brought a lot back,” he said quietly, “This one felt very much the same.”
But the country has changed.
Where fence posts once stood, many have now vanished entirely.
In some paddocks, there is little left to mark where boundaries once lay.
“It’s different when it’s country you grew up on,” Fraser said.“You know every fence line, every paddock, seeing it like that hits harder.”
No livestock were lost on his sister’s property but elsewhere the toll was heavier. Neighbouring land, including part of his nephew’s farm, suffered losses, while houses, sheds and pasture were destroyed across the district.
As Fraser drove through Carranballac and surrounding areas in the days after the fire, the scale of what had unfolded became clearer. Roadside grass burned fiercely, giving the fire a corridor to race through. Fire breaks failed under the force of extreme heat and relentless wind.
“I don’t think anything was stopping that fire on Friday,” he said, “Those winds were wild.”
Even so, Fraser was quick to note that many landholders had done everything asked of them.
“People do the right things. Firebreaks, preparation,” he said, “But some days, it doesn’t matter how ready you are.”
Amid the devastation, moments of generosity stood out.
“The help was immediate,” Fraser said, “You didn’t have to ask, people just turned up.”
He said volunteers descended from all directions, neighbours checked on neighbours and offers of assistance flowed freely.
Still, Fraser believes there are lessons to revisit post-fires, particularly around roadside vegetation and the need to refine systems that detect and respond to fires earlier, particularly in regard to the accuracy of lightning strike data.
“We’ve got to have a way of getting onto fires quicker,” he said.
Now, Carranballac is quiet again, the smoke has lifted and the slow work of rebuilding has begun.
“Fire’s just part of life out here,” Fraser said, “You live with it, but days like Friday remind you how unforgiving it can be.”