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A family is counting their blessings after surviving a terrifying ordeal in which they sought refuge inside a shipping container while their home was engulfed in flames. This dramatic scene unfolded as firefighters valiantly confronted the intense Longwood fire, one of the most formidable blazes in the state.
Bafunno, together with her 59-year-old daughter and 92-year-old brother, Peter Palmieri, faced a nerve-wracking wait as they sheltered from the encroaching inferno. The trio’s patience and hope were finally rewarded when, on Saturday morning, a Police Air Wing helicopter swooped in to carry them to safety.
Reflecting on their rescue, Bafunno expressed deep appreciation for the responders, saying, “They’re an amazing lot. They are wonderful, wonderful people, all of them in that kind of thing.” Her words echo the gratitude felt by many who have witnessed the bravery and dedication of emergency services in the face of nature’s wrath.
It wasn’t until Saturday morning that the Police Air Wing chopper arrived to get them to safety.
“They’re an amazing lot. They are wonderful, wonderful people, all of them in that kind of thing,” she said.
Peter thought the home he built in 1976 was fireproof – but the intensity of the blaze was nothing he’d seen before.
An ember attack overwhelmed the property.
“Suddenly, I don’t know maybe the heat it blew up the wall over the home, it blew up,” he said.
“Everywhere you look it looked like a war, sparks everywhere.”
Isabel’s daughter braved the flames to save the family cat.
“We had to run into the house and it was all smoke, and we couldn’t see a thing, you know,” she said.
Their beloved Bubba is recovering at a nearby vet.
Air Wing Tactical Flight Officer LSC Brittany Smith said they were extremely lucky.
“By no means do we encourage people to shelter in shipping containers, however on this occasion all I can say is this family is extremely lucky,” she said.
“It was good we were able to get in and get them out.”
Many Victorians are returning home for the first time.
In Yarck, residents are only just being let back in, stepping into the aftermath of what the fire spared, and what it didn’t.
The Maroondah Highway is lined with the ruins of family homes, at least 11 have been lost in a town that has only about 30.
With fire bearing down on all sides, Bob Balsdon stood his ground armed with nothing more than a mop and a bucket.
“Yeah, at one stage we had to because the fire truck had to go in the end,” he said.
“Nobody could get water so we just fought it with buckets and mops and shovels, whatever we could to save the house.”
Because it’s been so hard for crews to get into Yarck, they haven’t been able to assess the trees, so the Maroondah Highway has turned into a dangerous obstacle course.