Some lost all in yesterday’s blaze

By ERWIN CHLANDA Three dwellings and several vehicles were destroyed in Colonel Rose Drive, in the rural area near the airport, in yesterday's blaze. No-one was injured or killed but mechanic Sean Bathern (at right) returned from town in the afternoon to find much his family's home and most of his possessions destroyed. He says he is not insured. The fire, coming from the east, had swept through the residential complex and left only a donga mostly intact. Mr Bathern says it is believed that someone had lit the blaze near the Todd River, possibly in an ill-fatded attempt at precautionary burning. His dwellings were surrounded on three sides by buffel grass in a large expanse to the banks of the river.

Across a dirt road to the west is the rural block of Mark Weippert (at left), in Schaber Road. He and helpers were frantic putting out spot fires on the block, lit by embers blown across by the medium-strength wind, mostly from the east.

Photo below by Tahnee Passmore-Barns