With the Longwood fire now contained, reporter Kelly Lucas-Carmody spoke with Longwood local Steve Tobin, who spent more than two weeks helping his town and surrounding communities through the devastation.
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Steve became a strong and trusted voice for his community during one of its most challenging times — and his efforts made a real difference.
Here’s what he had to say about the experience.
How long have you lived in Longwood, and what does the town mean to you?
I have lived in Longwood since 2001. I am nearly a local.
Longwood has a reputation for welcoming new people into the community and making them feel welcome.
It’s the same today as it was 25 years ago. Longwood was the centre of the universe before the fires.
When did you first realise the Longwood fire was becoming serious?
I’m a bit lost for days, but I’m thinking it was the Thursday morning after the fire started.
It was burning back from Oak Valley and friends of mine, Jon and Shona, nearly got burned out. I went up with my little slip-on unit to give them a bit of a chop-out mopping up.
How did you first find out about the fire, and what was your immediate response?
On the VicEmergency app, phone calls, smoke bellowing in the sky.
As the fire grew, what did those first few days look like for you and others in the community?
The main front passed through Longwood East/Old Longwood, but it was still a very active fire and we realised it was burning back and getting wider.
The CFA and air support were attacking the front, which they should have been leaving, with the two Longwood tankers and a motley crew of privateers trying to save as many houses and stock as we could around Longwood East.
Can I just note that there could never be enough tankers or aircraft to stop this fire in the country it was burning in. It was mountain goat country.
How worrying was the lead-up to the catastrophic fire day?
Very worrying — very similar to Black Saturday. Everyone was checking their gear and preparing their houses for the worst.
Can you tell us how the logistics of bringing help, supplies and people together in one place came about?
Neil and Kerri Tubb had a meeting on the Sunday morning with Annabelle Cleeland, the shadow minister for getting shit done, and they came up with a game plan for a fodder depot at Tubby’s shed yard on the Hume Hwy that day.
With so much happening, how did you manage to rest or recharge at all during that time?
You sort of don’t. I tried to have a day off, but my brain wouldn’t stop going around.
The day off helped me get through the next week though.
You don’t want to let anyone down and you just want to help.
How supportive was the community of one another throughout the ordeal?
The community, near and far, were amazing. The generosity with time and donations was totally mind-blowing.
There are some pretty awesome people out there.
Do you know how many homes were lost in Longwood, and how are those families coping now?
As I write this on the 29th, I am still finding out friends have lost their homes, stock and property.
It’s in the 100s.
Your social media posts gained significant attention. How important was it for you to be honest and transparent about what was happening on the ground?
I just felt that people who have never been through a bushfire needed to know what was going on.
I started off asking for help to get a tanker full of diesel so we could keep the fodder depot going — running tractors, trucks, forklifts, Manitous and utes.
I went on to ask the universe for certain things and it delivered.
Without fuel, everything stops.
We were without power and the two servos in Euroa closed down.
When the servos did open up, they ran out of fuel.
It’s handy for getting wine for the girls.
What were some of the uplifting moments or stories you witnessed during those weeks?
Seeing people who had lost everything have a glimmer of hope when they came in and we got them sorted with some feed for their stock, a generator and fuel to keep them going.
Kat from Nagambie auctioned off one of her kelpies and one of the boys on the tractor bought it. Puppies always make you smile.
I had a delivery of pallets from three Indian nationals.
They got out of the truck and introduced themselves as Hazel, Glen and Craig.
How powerful was it to see the things your community needed come together when it mattered most?
It was very humbling and a privilege to be a small part of the big picture.
It puts things in perspective. I no longer worry about the wart on my bum.
Do you think government agencies provided enough resources — such as equipment, crews and information — in time? If not, where were the most obvious gaps?
So the state government have been absolutely useless. This state is in real trouble.
The politicians are so far removed from the average Aussie.
You need to feed or move stock straight away so farmers can start looking after themselves.
Farmers are the biggest greenies — they love their animals and they love the land.
Looking after stock is the priority, as well as native animals.
Even getting out to euthanise animals is a priority. It’s horrible to see animals suffering.
I personally rang Jacinta Allan’s office, Jaclyn Symes and the Incident Control Centre. I got crickets.
We had to ask for traffic control to make things safe. The information coming in wasn’t streamlined or updated — you need real-time info.
The fodder yard was run on 100 per cent donations and volunteers.
I ended up getting 16,000 litres of fuel from Petrostar Euroa on tic.
They came with a tanker and bowser so we could get on with doing what we had to do.
My son Mitch started a GoFundMe page to pay for it.
He raised close to $40k. The fuel was $27k.
The rest of the money we are distributing through Elders with a credit for fencing or stock feed.
The shire were slow off the mark, but a lot of them were out fighting the fires and we were all overwhelmed.
Looking ahead, how do you think small towns can better prepare for fires like this in the future?
Have a fire plan. Plan on no-one coming to help — we have 300-odd houses in Longwood and only two trucks.
Keep your properties clean. No eucalyptus around the house. Move your stock early.
During the fire, the Longwood township had no power, water, phone or internet.
So if you think you can defend your property without any of these, or stay off Facebook for four days in the smoke, stay.
If not, get the f*** out of there.
We used to do a town burn-off every year before the fire season. Red tape and bureaucracy has made it so hard for this to happen.
What does rebuilding look like now for Longwood?
Slow and hard.
Until it rains, we are not out of the woods.
Don’t forget us.
Is there anywhere or any way people can continue to help moving forward?
Keep updated with information from social media and the shire.
Call in on your mates and neighbours.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Is there anything else you’d like to add? Or anyone you’d like to thank or acknowledge?
This was a massive fire — hard to stop.
We need to keep our roads roadworthy and the verges clear of undergrowth. Prevention is way better than putting them out.
A huge shout-out to the Longwood CFA crews.
All the partners that stayed home worrying and not knowing what was going on.
The Tubb, Broadie and Naughton families.
Annabelle Cleeland, doing the hard yards when no-one was watching.
To all those who helped and donated — not only to the fodder depot, but there was also an army of volunteers at the Longwood Community Centre.
The Longwood Football Club.
Tank and Mighty Meg, the Shepp connections.
Everyone who sent messages of support and help.
I put the analogy that for a watch to work, all the little cogs need to turn and work together.
I have come away from this a better man.