By Casey Neill
LIFE has dealt Mark Goodchild more than his fair share of drama in recent weeks.
But he and wife Julie remain positive about eight days that almost claimed his life not once but twice.
The Upper Ferntree Gully Fire Brigade member narrowly escaped from a tanker destroyed in Upwey’s Nixon Road fire on 23 February.
Just eight days later, on 3 March, he watched from the roof as a giant tree crushed his Sassafras home.
On 5 March he attended the funeral of long time CFA colleague Russell Pitt.
Mr Goodchild, 46, said unfortunate things happened to everybody.
“The house wasn’t completely crushed, and no-one got seriously injured,” he said.
“The truck burned, but no-one was hurt. Things can always be a lot worse.”
Mrs Goodchild agreed.
“The people in the Kinglake fires lost everything,” she said.
“Tyson (their son) had a few stitches, but that’s healed, and he’s disappointed he doesn’t have a bigger scar!”
Mrs Goodchild, 46, was recovering from back surgery when the tree toppled. Her parents were staying at the house to lend a hand.
The family planned to evacuate following a high fire danger alert, but stayed put after morning rain and mild temperatures.
“But in the afternoon, I walked out the door and it was hot,” Mr Goodchild said.
He had never seen the wind gust from the valley before and decided to check his rooftop sprinklers with Tyson, 19. His son Rory, 15, watched on from the ground.
A large wood chunk suddenly landed just metres from Mr Goodchild.
“I looked up to see where it came from, and then Tyson yelled,” he said.
“And it was all like slow motion. Then the tree hit, so I just house surfed.”
Mr Goodchild called 000 before climbing from the roof to join his family in the driveway.
Tyson cut his leg as he leapt from the roof and needed seven stitches. Mrs Goodchild was taken to hospital with low blood pressure.
Sassafras and Upper Ferntree Gully CFA members were soon on site to lend a hand.
“I felt really safe once they showed up,” Mr Goodchild said.
The pair thanked the community.
“We didn’t realise that people thought that much of us, but we’ve had so many offers of support it’s just made us feel really overwhelmed,” Mrs Goodchild said.
It will take up to six months to repair the damage.
Julie Goodchild sits on the tree that crushed her home and inspects the damage. 28587
Pictures: Luke Plummer
