- Title: Australian man saves home from inferno but worse of fire still not over
- Date: 2nd January 2020
- Summary: MALUA BAY, BATEMANS BAY AREA, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 2, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS RAY AND ISOBEL WEBBIE STANDING ON THEIR BACK PORCH LOOKING AT AREA WHERE BUSHFIRES CAME CLOSE TO THEIR HOUSE WEBBIE'S BACKYARD AND BURNT FOREST BEHIND THE HOUSE WEBBIE WALKING PAST HIS HOME, WITH BURNT HOUSE NEXT DOOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT, RAY WEBBIE, SAYING: "I cried when I turned the corner because I saw my house and it was still there from the front and I started to cry. I was that happy it was still there." ISOBEL AND RAY WEBBIE WALKING IN BACKYARD LOOKING AT BURNT FOREST (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT, RAY WEBBIE, SAYING: "I looked up into the sky and I saw black leaves. It was like raining black leaves because the fire was further west of us, where we are here at Malua Bay. So, I decided I had to quickly prepare the house because, Tuesday (December 31) I was expecting something real bad to happen, and it certainly did, as you can see." VARIOUS COMPLETELY BURNT HOUSE NEXT DOOR TO WEBBIE'S HOME (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT, RAY WEBBIE, SAYING: "I think the preparation that I did on Monday (December 30) evening at six o'clock, by plugging all the four gutters, downpipes with my gutter plugs. Filled both gutters with water and then wet the roof. Wet all the windows, external windows. Made sure all windows were closed. Locked doors." ISOBEL: "lock our curtains closed." RAY: "and just evacuated to the beach." GUTTERS AND PLUGS THAT WERE USED TO SEAL WATER BACK OF HOUSE WITH DOWNPIPES AND GUTTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT, RAY WEBBIE, SAYING: "Well, we expect another catastrophic day on Saturday (January 4). I'm going to do exactly the same thing as I did the first time. I've got the gutter plugs in. They'll be left. I'll take all the dead stuff out of the gutter facing the bush, because the front one's clear. This one, I'll scrap it completely dry again, get every leaf out of there. Fill it up with water again. Hose the roof down again. All the external windows, deck and go." THE WEBBIES WALKING IN BURNT BACKYARD
- Embargoed: 16th January 2020 09:07
- Keywords: Austalia Batesman Bay Bushfire burnt evacuation residents victims wild fire
- Location: MALUA BAY, BATEMANS BAY AREA, AUSTRALIA
- City: MALUA BAY, BATEMANS BAY AREA, AUSTRALIA
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Fires
- Reuters ID: LVA001BUHART3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Local residents in Malua Bay in Australia's South Coast region, Ray and Isobel Webbie, stand on their back deck observing the burnt bush that could have taken their home of 26 years.
Catastrophic bushfires swept through the area on January 31st, destroying hundreds of homes, including the house next to the Webbies and the entire bushland behind them.
"I looked up into the sky and I saw black leaves. It was like raining black leaves because the fire was further west of us, where we are here at Malua Bay. So, I decided I had to quickly prepare the house because, Tuesday (December 31) I was expecting something real bad to happen, and it certainly did, as you can see," Ray said.
Ray managed to use "common sense" and prepared his house in hope that he could stop it from burning to the ground. He plugged the gutters and filled the downpipes with water, wet all the outside windows and hosed the roof. Then, he and his partner Isobel evacuated to the beach about a kilometre away until the fire had passed.
"I cried when I turned the corner because I saw my house and it was still there from the front and I started to cry. I was that happy it was still there," he said.
But the worst of the fires aren't over, the New South Wales state government declared a state of emergency, beginning on Friday (January 3), giving authorities the power to forcibly evacuate people and take control of services.
Authorities urged a mass exodus from several towns on Australia's southeast coast, an area hugely popular in the current summer peak holiday season, warning that extreme heat forecast for the weekend will further stoke the fires.
Webbie said he will do what he did last time, and hope for the best.
(Production: Jill Gralow) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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