Following the Summercloud Bay bush fire last week, Shoalhaven Historical Society suggested we point to one of the most disastrous fires in the region’s history.
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A devastating bush fire that ripped through the valley and what was left of the town on Saturday, January 14, 1939, brought mining to a halt in Yalwal.
From an early hour, huge masses of heavy black smoke, carried by a westerly gale enveloped the town. The wind carried the fires at an alarming speed and many calls were made to the police station for assistance in fighting the fires. Losses were reduced to a minimum and many saves were reported thanks to the assistance provided.
Though it was known that a fire was burning behind the mountain, little danger was anticipated, but with lightning like rapidity the fire swooped down and spread over the settlement and inside an hour homesteads, camps, batteries and bridges were reduced to ashes, the flames devouring everything in their onrush. Men, women and children ran from their homes, leaving all their possessions behind, and taking shelter in what is known as the big hole in Danjera Creek.
In the Shoalhaven News after the blaze it was written, “Once the panorama of beauty, the little mining township is now a scene of desolation and blackened ruins.”
English-born Ann Jackson experienced the fire with her husband, Frederick, and wrote of her trauma in a letter to Blackpool Gazette and Herald headed ‘Chased by Raging Bush Fire’.
“We have gold leases in the small township of Yalwal, 18 miles from Nowra. My husband lives in a cabin in the hills, where I often spend a few months. It was extremely hot – 118 degrees in the shade – and bush fires were easily started as the ground was dense with trees and scrub. ‘Fire breaks’ were prepared and everything was done to prevent an outbreak. On the Saturday morning the sun was shining, and children were bathing in the creek, which is as wide as a river, when suddenly it went as dark as night. A huge flame swept over the town, and everyone rushed to the creek. To see men, women and children standing in the creek for hours watching their homes go up in flames was unforgettable. Each thought their end had come. We had to duck our heads under the water to prevent our hair from being singed. Thousands of pounds worth of damage was done and there was not a blade of grass or tree to be seen for a radius of 40 miles. The water in the creek was so hot that the fish lay on the bank dead. Horses, sheep and cattle were burned in the hundreds and birds lay dead in flocks upon the mountains. This was no ordinary bush fire. Bushmen have seen nothing like it before. The white flames leapt hundreds of feet high.”
At Cambewarra, the fire posed an ominous threat, but thanks to a large crowd of voluntary and capable workers, there was no loss of buildings and the damage was confined to grass and fencing.
