A Ballarat couple say they're grateful for the firefighters who saved their partially-built home from a large fire at Buangor, which forced the evacuation of dozens of towns in the area on Thursday and Friday.
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Towns including Beaufort, Raglan and Main Lead were in the firing line on Thursday as a south-easterly wind blew the fire towards the town, with authorities issuing Emergency Warnings and urging residents to evacuate.
An overnight wind change pushed the fire away from the Beaufort area and to the north towards Amphitheatre and Elmhurst.
The fire has burnt through 11,817 hectares in the Mount Buangor State Park and Mount Cole.
Dean and Chelley Picken, who are in the middle of building a new home on Main Lead Road near Raglan, were among those forced to evacuate but were left shocked when they returned on Friday and discovered the house's frame was still standing, completely untouched despite the blaze burning through their property.
The couple had only just poured the slab weeks prior to the fire, and all that was standing on the lot was a timber frame.
A designer by trade, Mr Picken was working from his office in Warrnambool on Thursday when he saw the bushfire warning come through.
"At the start we thought it didn't look great but it was being kept under control," Mr Picken said.
"As it grew we could see what direction it was moving in. Then it wasn't until 10 o'clock (on Thursday night) we saw the impact area on the maps and we thought there was nothing left.
"My son, who is helping me build (the house), has a friend in the CFA who was here at about 4am (Friday) morning and said it looked like the frames were still up.
"We had an inkling that we were going to be okay."
It was an emotional morning for the couple, surveying the property to see what had been destroyed.
"It doesn't prepare you for what you see, the barrenness of it all," Mr Picken said.
"Then you have this guilt because your house is standing and the one across the road isn't.
"At the moment we are just trying to patch together who has been impacted. I spoke to my next door neighbour, he lives in Melbourne at the moment and knew the fences were down.
"We are piecing it together as we go along."
Mr Picken said he was told a CFA crew from Ballarat had saved the property.
"That is all we can think about, how amazing the CFA have been," Mr Picken said.
"You feel useless when you can't get in and help, so a massive thank you for all who have helped. We just hope that they are all safe as well."
Chute farmer David Trengove was part of the Raglan CFA crew tasked with fighting the many spot fires around the rural town on Thursday.
The Courier spoke to his son Nathan on Thursday, who was out fighting fires near his and his father's properties.
He has come down to a farm of his near Raglan to assess damage done to his property.
"It is disheartening," Mr Trengove said.
"I have had lots of texts from lots of people. I am in a car club and I have gotten texts from them, from people I used to work with.
"I know one person who has lost a house. Another has lost a rental property besides her house out near Raglan. Another woman has lost all of her shed, but saved the horses and her house luckily."
Mr Trengove said Thursday's fire was very erratic, with crews having to move quickly from property to property.
"There were so many spot fires, you would just get one out and there would be another one and another one," he said.
"You are fighting a losing battle really."
While Mr Trengrove's paddocks have been scorched and fence lines destroyed, he was lucky to not lost any livestock or property.
"The wind changed and probably saved us, he said."
On Friday, many fighters used Beaufort as a staging area and a place to recharge.
Rubi and Rae Gifts and Homewares was one of the few shops remaining open on the main street after the Western Highway re-opened.
Owner Tayla Van Rossum was busy making free coffees for volunteers returning from the fireground and locals inspecting the damage done to their properties.
Ms Van Rossum said she had only got the coffee machine a few weeks ago, and was still learning her way around it, but would do anything to help.
"I will do anything that I can do to help in any way I can. Obviously the firefighters have been out there all night," she said.
"I couldn't imagine what it would be like for the CFA out there."
Ms Van Rossum evacuated Beaufort yesterday afternoon after the fire suddenly picked up near the town.
"I was in here working and then the fire brigade went out at about 11," she said.
"By 1.30 we had a message from the school come in to say that they were just watching the fire and that the kids were safe at school.
"Within half an hour we were at school picking up children and we were told to leave.
"I looked like it was so close. They told me to come out the front, and just looking out the back of the shop that big bit of smoke was quite scary."
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