BLACK SUMMER

JO MCKINNON

Fire & Ice

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice

ROBERT FROST

The fires of late 2019-20 burnt an estimated 18.6 million hectares (186,000 square kilometres), destroyed over 5,900 buildings (including 2,779 homes) and killed at least 34 people.

Nearly three billion terrestrial vertebrates alone – the vast majority being reptiles – were affected and some endangered species were believed to be driven to extinction. At its peak, air quality dropped to hazardous levels in all southern and eastern states. The cost of dealing with the bushfires is expected to exceed the A$4.4 billion of the 2009 Black Saturday fires, and tourism sector revenues fell by more than A$1 billion. However, economists estimated that the Australian bushfires may cost over A$103 billion in property damage and economic losses, making the bushfires Australia’s costliest natural disaster to date. Nearly 80 percent of Australians were affected either directly or indirectly by the bushfires. By 7 January 2020, the smoke had moved approximately 11,000 kilometres across the South Pacific Ocean to Chile and Argentina. As of 2 January 2020, NASA estimated that 306 million tonnes (337 million short tons) of CO2 had been emitted.

THE BUSHFIRE IN NAMADGI NATIONAL PARK.

The fear, worry and tragic loss caused by the bushfires that raged across eastern Australia last year will be felt by many people for years to come.

Not only were human lives affected by this catastrophic event, animals deeply suffered too.

Sadly, countless native wildlife died and the nation’s horse population was also heavily impacted with some simply unable to escape the burning flames and choking smoke.

Plenty of horses in hard-hit areas did manage to survive though thanks to the heroic efforts of individual people and organisations.

Lance Holberton, who looks after the Magic Millions sales complex in Adelaide, played a big part and helped house and care for more than 100 horses as well as six dogs, two cats and a rabbit.

THE MORPHETTVILLE COMPLEX WAS TURNED INTO A REFUGE FOR HORSES THAT NEEDED A SAFE PLACE TO GO.

In an emotion charged interview on racing.com Lance reflected on the effort;

“The horse fraternity from top to bottom worked together. It just shows the care for the horse. These people love their horses.”

“It’s amazing how the horse industry comes together and these people came together from all different frames of horse life… from the horse that was 32 years old and hadn’t been on a float for 12 years to a $150,000 showstopper. It’s amazing,” he said while fighting back tears.

Right throughout the year Magic Millions has been strongly focussed on providing support for those affected by the bushfires.

More than $1 million was raised, including $100,000 from The Star, Magic Millions and Magic Millions ambassadors.

This initial contribution kick started the fundraising campaign at the Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo and ran until the final day of the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast.

$100,000 was raised at the Polo by auctioning lunch with Rebel Wilson and another $30,000 was donated through pledges and bucket collections. A silent auction was also held during Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and raised $30,000. Merchandise sales also contributed about $55,000 to the effort.

TERRY SNOW WITH HIS AUSTRALIAN STOCK HORSE ERIN: “I’M BESOTTED BY HORSES.”

LIKE THE MAGIC MILLIONS ADELAIDE SALES COMPLEX, ANOTHER PLACE THAT SERVED AS A SAFE HAVEN FOR HORSES DURING THE FIRES WAS AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST EQUESTRIAN CENTRE, WILLINGA PARK, ON THE SOUTH COAST OF NSW.

Surrounded by Meroo and Murramarang national parks, Willinga Park spans 2000 acres with Olympicsized equestrian arenas as well as native gardens with over 11,000 trees.

Terry Snow, who is the chairman of Capital Airport Group and has a holiday home in Bawley Point, had long been planning for a fire event of such magnitude.

“We couldn’t evacuate. It couldn’t be done – we’ve got hundreds of head of cattle, horses and 30 staff,” he said.

“We weren’t naive, we’d been expecting and preparing for years and always engaged a fire consultant. We followed his advice to the letter and were so grateful that we did,” said Terry.

If not for Terry’s initiative to clear land and make the venue as fire proof as possible, the entire township of Bawley Point would have been lost in the fires.

Luckily, Willinga Park itself effectively acted as a fire break for the vulnerable coastal hamlet.

“When the fire got to us, we blocked the fire going to Bawley Point. We could have lost Bawley Point but we didn’t have any flame come on our place except for a little corner. “

“We had none of the devastating fires that the whole coastline had been subjected to because we had put in fire hydrants through the entire front, installed three generators, and we have dams so crews were able to fill up on water from our dams.”

The South Coast provided some of the most frightening and confronting scenes during the fires. Terry said Willinga Park was blanketed in thick smoke and flames 20 or more metres high could be seen.

Fortunately, people and the valuable livestock on the property safely endured the ordeal.

THE 32 LUXURY STABLES ARE SITUATED NEXT TO THE GRAND PRIX ARENA. THE FLOOR IS SURFACED WITH 52MM RUBBER PROVIDING A CUSHIONED SURFACE FOR ADDITIONAL EQUINE COMFORT. EACH 4M X 5M STALL HAS AN AUTOMATIC WATERER AND MISTERS AVAILABLE IN HOT WEATHER.

“We have 220 horses on the place and 400 head of cattle and none stampeded and they just poked about and fitted in with all the heavy smoke.”

Terry says there are now some encouraging signs of recovery around the property.

“A lot of animals died but some trees have showed some signs of regeneration. It will be a long time before we get our native animals back.”

With COVID-19 hitting soon after the fires and the subsequent cancellation of horse events it’s been a hugely challenging year for Willinga Park.

Terry’s plans to develop it into one of the world’s leading equestrian destinations have been stalled but now things are slowly returning to some degree of normality the dream is alive again.

“We have now built the biggest show jumping arena in Australia and we are now building a vet hospital to house our comprehensive embryo transplant program. That’s a big program here. “

“We have some beautiful breeding stock here that we have developed over the last five years.”

Equestrian sport has been far less fortunate than racing in Australia with competitions virtually coming to a complete standstill over the past 12 months.

But, Terry, a great visionary, remains positive about the future for Willinga Park and the ongoing development of horse sport in Australia.

“All we need is clear skies to put more competitions on,” he said.