Warburton

"Six hundred men set to work to defend Warburton while the women and holiday makers took to the river as a place of refuge."

The fire that destroyed the mills in the Acheron Valley on 10 January crossed the Acheron Gap above Warburton between 5.00 and 6.00 pm that evening. At about the same time, the arm of the fire which had burnt-out the Watts Valley above Healesville crossed the flanks of Mt Donna Buang. The two fires met up again at about 4.00 am on the following morning and began to burn down the valley of Cement Creek, tending eastward towards the O'Shannassy catchment.

As the wind dropped, the fire began to slow. Thursday was a day of little wind and the immediate danger to the townships of Warburton and East Warburton began to ease. Between them, Police Constable Albert Theobald and Forest Officer George Burns had less than ten men to protect two miles of township at East Warburton. On Friday morning the wind rose again. Des Morrish, Max Sparkes and Harry Martyr had stationed their fire engine adjacent to the O'Shannassy aqueduct above the Warburton Golf Course and were swimming in the channel to stay cool. When the wind rose they heard a roar like a tornado. The fire leapt from the flanks of Donna Buang and ran like lightning downhill along Parburys Creek through wet scrub considered impossible to burn under normal conditions. It crossed the Yarra River without pause and, moments later, Mount Little Joe was aflame and Warburton was ringed with fire.

Observers in different parts of the valley experienced different wind directions. What was not in dispute was the strength of the wind, rising to gale force and chopping about in many directions. The fire quickly flared again. It left the lower portion of the O'Shannassy Catchment at about 3.00 pm and raced fiercely eastward and south towards Noojee, Tanjil Bren and Matlock spotting ahead of itself as it went. Six hundred men set to work to defend Warburton while the women and holiday makers took to the river as a place of refuge. A fortunate shift of wind to the west helped to save the town, but it was not until the morning of Saturday 14 January that Warburton could be declared safe.

Read more about how the Country Fire Authority would fight bushfires in Warburton today in the Aftermath Section