By Casey Neill
UPPER Ferntree Gully Fire Brigade captain Peter Smith is counting the cost of Upwey’s Nixon Road bushfire during which his crew at one stage were trapped in their truck, separated from the flames by just the fire curtains.
“I lost me glasses, I lost me phone, I lost me red helmet, I lost a full bottle of Pepsi Max and I lost a fire truck,” he said.
Mr Smith, Michael Pulford and Mark Goodchild fought flames from Abrahams Track in Belgrave Heights after fire broke out in Birds Land Reserve soon after 2.30pm on 23 February.
“We thought we were laughing,” Mr Smith said.
“Scoresby and us were working beautifully, and next thing the wind just changed and it went from a fire that was manageable to a fire that was uncontrollable.”
They dropped their hose and returned to find their truck’s left side alight.
The tanker hit a tree as driver Michael Pulford tried to reverse with zero visibility.
“We came back and hit a bigger tree. The power went out on the truck and we sat in there for what felt like minutes but was probably only seconds,” Mr Smith said.
The fire was unlike anything he had experienced.
“We’ve had fire burn around us, over us, but it’s just been there and gone. This one was sustained. The flame height was higher than the truck,” he said.
The two left windows blew out, leaving only fire retardant curtains to shield Mr Smith and Mr Goodchild from the flames.
“The dash was really starting to bubble and go crispy and the smoke was thick, real acrid, and we were all starting to be really short of breath,” Mr Smith said.
“I said, ‘let’s get the hell out of here’.”
The 52-year-old, 168cm captain climbed across the centre console.
“The curtain went up and this flame shot in and I thought ‘stuff this’, so I just pushed off, I’ve dived and I’ve finished off landing on my feet. I have no idea how.”
The bush was still burning around them as they left their tanker behind.
“Everybody said, ‘you must have run like crazy’, but we actually just waddled up the road until we got to a clearing,” he said.
They walked to Lanes Track and found a Department of Sustainability and Environment crew waiting for three Scoresby CFA members suffering minor burns.
“We turned around and it was just a fireball,” Mr Smith said.
“We all looked at each other and had those manly hugs.”
The fire was closing in when another tanker arrived.
“We didn’t know where they’d come from but we were mighty pleased to see them,” Mr Smith said.
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