Friday was yet to bring worse news, however. During the afternoon word had come through that Tenmile was threatened by a fierce fire burning in the ranges, but the full significance of this report was not realised until a message was received that houses belonging to Mrs McQuilten, Mr Wheeler, and two smaller places of Mr Poole’s were all that remained of the little settlement, six houses, the R C Chapel and the hall having been destroyed in the fire.

Residents made a brave effort to save their homes, but eventually many of them were driven into the river to preserve their lives. Two houses near Kevington were also destroyed, and others saved with difficulty.

People were staggered by this report, but were quite unprepared for the shock which was to follow, when news came through that Woodspoint had suffered a similar fate to Tenmile, and the post office at A1 Mine Settlement had also been destroyed.

Although there had been burning in the ranges in the vicinity of Woodspoint, no fears were felt for the safety of the town. Apparently the fire was caught up by a tornado for a wall of flame bore down upon the town with startling suddenness, and a veritable hell on earth was let loose.

Residents had time to save very little besides what they stood up in before fleeing to shelter in tunnels, where many of them were almost overcome by the fumes. Some took refuge in the creek, but were driven out by the heat of the water. The explosion caused by the magazine at the Morning Star Mine and also of a truck load of petrol added to the terror.

...Such was the fierceness and intensity of the inferno that refugees state that when the fire struck a house it appeared to rise on its blocks, and burn as a heap of gunpowder touched by a match.

Within half an hour the town was a smoking ruin, with hospital, churches, hotel, school, shops, and about 100 houses, which a short time before had comprised a peaceful village, with the inhabitants going quietly about their daily occupations, now almost entirely obliterated, rendering almost 500 people homeless and most of them practically penniless.

What a sight to meet the eyes of the inhabitants as they emerged from their shelter, yet they faced the situation with amazing courage.

...The Woodspointites had their chins held high, and though their tired faces bore every trace of the ordeal they had passed through, they could still wear a smile and crack a joke.

A Melbourne daily paper expresses doubt as to whether Woodspoint can recover, but they know not these people of the ranges as we know them. Many of them are worthy descendants of the pioneers who cut their way through virgin bush and faced untold hardships in founding Woodspoint. Such bravery as that with which they met this cruel stroke of fate will not be daunted.

[MC, 20/1/39]