On March 10, 1965, bushfires which devastated hundreds of square miles in the region made front page news of The Shoalhaven and Nowra News.
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The article titled ‘Fires in Shoalhaven’, described the region as “a huge tinderbox”.
More than 800 firefighters worked to save townships, livestock, forests and farms. Thankfully, no lives were lost.
Shire fire control officer Leo Brown was said to have fought and supervised fires non-stop for a period of five days at one stretch.
The outbreaks were widespread and included Sanctuary point, Flat Rock, Sussex Inlet, Kangaroo Valley, Burrier, St George’s Basin, Nowra, Nerriga, Tomerong and Worrigee.
However, the worst affected area was Currarong, where as many as 13 houses, one of which was owned by the local fire chief “Bluey” Mytten, several outhouses, poultry farm, apiary and fire truck were gutted.
The fire swept through from the west of the town and much of the Long Beach and Cabbage Tree area was burnt to the ground.
Power lines were cut, denying the residents of Currarong of any power for a period of time.
According to reports, on the Sunday night, Currarong fishermen tried in vain for two hours to save a house at Abrahams Bosom Beach, when the fire seemed almost under control, the house exploded into a mass of rubble, gutting all that remained.
Firefighters were up against harsh weather conditions at the time of the outbreaks.
Gale-force hot winds fanned the flames into raging bushfires and the dry countryside and high temperatures made for perfect conditions so the fire could gain the upper hand.
At Depot Farm west of Nowra, the Lymbery family was hemmed in by fire in surrounding bushland. They had begun preparations to escape via a rowing boat on the Shoalhaven River, when a tanker truck and firefighters beat a path through to open up a track to the trapped family.
At Nerriga, fire swept through Lewis Rolfe’s property ‘Towga’, killing 800 head of cattle and sheep.
- The information in this article was kindly provided by the Shoalhaven Historical Society.