The 2018 St Patrick’s Day fires devastated the south-west Warnings had been issued for the region, but nothing coupld have prepared us for what was to come. The fire risk was “severe” and incident management teams were in place in Warrnambool, Heywood and Colac in case the unthinkable happened.
On Saturday 17th March, 2018 the mercury soared into the mid-30s on a day of total fire ban, the south-west soaked up the summery autumn weather. Fire crews were on alert on Saturday afternoon as reports of lightning strikes near Casterton filtered in.
While the Guinness flowed and people celebrated St Patrick’s Day and the colour green, by the next morning our green landscape would be black, bearing the scars of a night that has been described with words not spoken in these parts for years: “apocalyptic”, catastrophic”. Many farms were devistated in this blaze and due to the nature of peat fires, they are unable to rebuild, deeming their land useless.
The Cache you're looking for is a 400ml clear container and contains a pen, log book and a few small treasures. Please think about where you park your car, as leaving it on the bend could be dangerous!