Mary is wife of volunteer fire fighter Tom Ritchie from Gisborne Fire Brigade.
Today, Mary and Tom are still an active part of the Brigade.

Ash Wednesday 1983. Just any normal hot windy day…NOT!!!

My husband Tom had left for work early because of the hot day ahead.

At 3.30pm, I went to pick up 2 of our children James and Kathryn from school and could see the smoke from the fire in the Wombat State Forest.  I called to see Mum and Dad who lived near the hospital.  Dad had heard on the radio that it was at East Trentham and as we had come from there, we wondered as to where exactly it was.  (Little did we know it started ½ a mile from where we had lived) 
The older 2 girls arrived home at 4.30pm on the bus and said they could see the smoke on their way home.

About 5.30pm, friends Lorraine and Frank Dempsy called in. They had been up on Mt Gisborne looking at the fire which looked like it was heading for Toolernvale.  They had a cuppa and watched the news.  As they were leaving, the blackened gum leaves were falling and a spot fire started in the old racecourse site north of the Gisborne township.  They headed for home but were later evacuated to Riddell oval.

The kids and I started wetting everything down with the hoses.  I was very worried about the two vacant lots next to our home in New Gisborne as there was long grass and with all the burning leaves and bark falling, could have caused a spot fire.  The next we knew, the end of our street, Farrell and Station Rd, was swarming with fire trucks.  There had been more spot fires and they were afraid that the petrol depot of Tony Griffens (next to Tom Sankeys) might go up.

At this point, we loaded the car with photo albums, change of clothes for all of us (and not discovered till some days later even our dog Cindy’s bone was packed).  The next thing, Bald Hill (Mt. Magnet) was on fire.  The police came around and told us to stay inside and that we couldn’t go anywhere as the roads were closed.

I phoned Mum and Dad who were ok.  Dad had put a few things in the ute, but seeing the hospital was close by they felt fairly safe.

On the transistor, we listened to 3KZ who were giving us updates all the time.  Every so often, I’d go out and hose everything down.  The children all moved their beds into the lounge and tried to sleep.

Sometime in the next few hours I received a phone call from my sister-in-law.  She worked for the Shire and was helping to co-ordinate displaced persons.  She had Joan Donovan my friend with her.  (Joan had been caught in the fire on the highway at Macedon.)  She was in a state of shock and didn’t know where her children were.  So I then spent the next few hours ringing all her friends trying to find them.  Unbeknown to me, most of the phone lines were destroyed. Her kids were eventually found the next morning at the friends she had left them with, in one of the only houses left standing in their street.  Somewhere around 11pm, Tom called in with his head bandaged to let me know he was ok ( In case I’d heard he was injured). He soon took off again and headed to Macedon with Mick Mundy.
The rest of the night I spent checking for smouldering embers and praying Tom and the other fire fighters were ok.

Around 6.30am the next morning, Tom came staggering in tired and shocked. He didn’t talk much (which is unusual for him) had something to eat before falling into bed.

I recall sitting by my old stereo in the early hours of the morning looking at the Mount. All was black except for the red bright patches (houses) burning, and knowing (assuming) that all in the fires path was probably gone (including our friend's house) and that feeling of numbness – and eerie disbelief.  I will never forget that day.

Other Stories

Kerry Murphy- Captain of Mt Macedon Fire Brigade in 1983

Peter Moore- Captain of Gisborne Fire Brigade in 1983

Tom Ritchie- Senior Fire Ffighter (Gisborne)