Oi. Troughs up here, you know that.
Jen Lewis is a cattle farmer whose property has been in drought for over two years.
Today's a bit of an emotional day, I'm a bit teary.
Because, you know, probably 12 months ago when the… excuse my voice, the drought was hitting, we decided to de-stock and we got rid of all of our old cows.
And, we had a really lovely manageable food and Hayley and I were managing through the drought
and we’d costed it right up until probably Christmas, early New Year.
And, everything was going along really well and then overnight, basically,
we went from a managing a drought, to absolute total devastation.
A fire emergency is unfolding in the state’s north
where it's too late to leave for some residents in the areas of three major blazes.
I knew that was a column of smoke up there, but I wasn't worried
I knew there was a column of smoke up there, but I wasn't worried because we all thought that it was under control.
But I knew the conditions were pretty bad. And I was coming out of the house every ten minutes and just checking on that smoke.
And I went out and I went “Hayley, I think we better get ready that smokes getting to, look a bit of a worry.
And, it wasn't long after that we got the ‘it’s too late to leave’ emergency phone call.
And it was like ten minutes after that, that we saw flames. It was quick.
This was not the first time this farm has been threatened by fire.
en's old farmhouse didn't survive the bushfires of October 2002.
We've got a dam that we built after the last fire. That was Jen’s insurance.
And with a really good firefighting pump and we knew we could defend this place.
And then what happens is a bushfire is you see the fire and then this big cloud of smoke just rolls in.
You hear the fire and then everything goes dark and you can't see anything.
and then you run around and put out spot fires.
We're also trained firefighters which helped because, you know, after the last fire,
we decided that the house town because it was a disaster zone and no one could have saved it,
even if we had plenty of water and we were here.
So since then, joined the fire brigade, educated ourselves, made this place defendable,
and we have been attempting, and doing the best we can to educate the community in the same way.
When you choose to live in a bush area like this, you really are on your own.
It’s kind of, it's all about responsibility and choices,
and we've really been trying to, all of us work through a process of what are our roles and responsibilities
when we live in a community like this. You know, we're surrounded by trees.
And drought and high temperatures and you know,
I knew that there was not going to be any flashing lights come up the hill that day.
Hi Michaela, this is Haley calling from Ewingar, how are you going?
Oh, we’re doing alright? Yes, new week.
This time around Jen and Hyaley's preparation and training paid off, and they saved their home.
So, is there's someone that I could speak with?
A remarkable effort, particularly from Haley who was in her final round of chemotherapy, for ovarian cancer,
We’re chemo girl and the cowgirl saved our house.
I must say though, the first week to ten days to running on adrenaline,
and the endorphins kicking because you've saved your place and you know, you're alive and it's all good,
and then the reality of the hard slog just wears you down, day after day.
These calves are in reasonable condition considering they’re early weaned, but unfortunately,
the amount of feed you have to give them is just beyond expense.
And these calves aren’t worth much money,
so it’s like being caught between a rock and a hard place.
If it rains, they'll be worth a lot but at the moment, no one wants them, because they cost money.
It gets very depressing come down here every morning. Why is that?
I'm entering the war zone every every morning.
It’s living in the dust, continually feeding cattle that are always hungry.
Every time you get down there in the truck, they just bellow and chase you think “oh, you've been fed today,
you can't have any more until tomorrow”.
And, it's just heartbreaking.
It's more the drought than the fire at the moment. All we need is rain.
Be nice to each other.
So now I've had the agent out today and basically, he's advised me to get rid of all the cows
that, basically all but ten, and just keep ten of the best, and go through the weaners
and do the same thing, and basically have something that may be manageable for the next few months.
And it's big because it's a young herd and I know them individually, and I know that they’ll end up with their heads cut off.
And it's really hard.
Jen said to me other day, it's like, you know, we went from drought,
and we weren't like the people out west who have had such a terrible time for so many years,
but then suddenly fire came,
and that actually pushed us into a whole new zone.