Bright

"The fate of Bright continued to hang in the balance until Sunday 15 January when rain finally fell and the fire subsided."

By the late 1930s, much of the forest growing on the rugged ranges in North-east Victoria was uninhabited save for a few very small sawmills serving local needs. The mills were too far from major markets and the means of transport available were too poor to enable the timber to become a major economic resource. Consequently, whenever a fire occurred in the district, it seemed to be no-one's responsibility to put it out unless private property was threatened.

In September of 1938, a fire had started between the Buffalo and King valleys. Access to this remote area was limited to a few narrow mining tracks. By 2 January 1939, another was raging in the ranges around Tawonga South, driven by a fierce northerly wind. Three hundred men were working to prevent it from encroaching on the works of the State Electricity Commission's Kiewa hydro-electric scheme, then under construction. By 9 January, the Kiewa fires were burning on a 25-mile front and were beyond control as they encircled Mount Bogong. On Friday 13 January, the gale force wind drove the fire south towards Omeo and East towards Bright, where it met up with the Buffalo valley fire and broke into the highly flammable pine plantations surrounding the town.

No lives were lost in the township due to the heroic efforts of a few fire-fighters who put in a massive back-burn, but the isolated settlers and miners living in the bush were not so fortunate. Prospector James Lowry and his nephew Ronald Lowry were caught by a change in the wind and both perished. Settler Walter Scammell and his mother Margaret Scammell were not burnt, but both succumbed to the intense heat and the exertion of saving their property. In the Kiewa Valley, SEC employee John Edeny went missing near Homans Gap on Wednesday 11 January and was burnt to death. The fate of Bright continued to hang in the balance until Sunday 15 January when rain finally fell and the fire subsided.