A NSW family has been left “at breaking point” after their farm was devastated by a bushfire for the second time in several years.
Richelle and Bryon Jackson’s property was wrecked in the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20.
The dairy farmers and parents-of-three managed to rebuild and return to their sustainable farming practices.
Now a grass fire earlier this week wrecked their farm again at Coolagolite near Bermagui in the Bega Valley on the NSW south coast, causing what could be hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Their neighbour, Honey Atkinson, said hundreds of acres of paddocks were scorched in Tuesday’s fire, killing livestock and causing extensive damage to feed stores, fencing, water supplies and pumps as well as trees.
Atkinson, a photographer who lives on the property next door said the family, who is too upset to talk, is uninsured because of the previous fire.
“For the second time round, it’s really brutal,” she told nine.com.au.
Atkinson said she was in her studio on her property nearby when she smelled smoke.
A neighbour told her a fire was approaching.
She said it swept through her paddocks within minutes.
She tried to warn the Jacksons, who have three children aged six, seven, and nine, but couldn’t get them on the phone.
“It happened really quickly,” she said.
“The wind was so strong.”
She said of their 700-acre property, 550 acres was burned and precious animals were killed.
“Their houses are safe but they lost about 50 sheep and had to put down a number of steers,” she said.
“It’s really sad.”
Atkinson wrote on a fundraising page that the couple is at “absolute breaking point” and “finding it difficult to envision how we can rebuild once more.”
“It’s one of those things they have to keep on going,” she said.
The fire sparked a grim warning from Premier Chris Minns to prepare for a “horror” season.
“Be prepared for a horror summer,” he said.
“We are one week into October and we are experiencing mid-summer conditions. Multiple days above 30 degrees, high winds – bushfires love this environment and it’s devastating for regional communities.”
