Leaving Kiwi Behind

This article is from the February 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Jessie, introduce yourself to our readers. I’m a 20-year-old dressage rider and we live in Mount Torrens, South Australia.

What were you doing on the 20th of December, the day the Cudlee Creek fire began? The fire started in Cudlee Creek at around 9.00am; it was near, but we were not under any threat at that time. We knew it was a catastrophic rated fire day, so we were all at home. The horses went out of their stables at 5.30am, and came back in at 10am when it started heating up.

What actions did you and your family take upon being alerted about the fire? When I brought them back into the stables I decided I wanted to try and evacuate the horses to Morphettville Racecourse (in the city). My new horse had arrived 11 days prior, so we were in a situation where for the first time ever I had three horses and a two-horse float. I had a friend coming with another float, but by the time they were able to make their way towards us, the fire had reached Woodside, and they couldn’t get through the roadblocks. Morphettville was no longer an option as even if I had gotten one float loadout, I wouldn’t have been able to get back home for the remaining horse. I tried to load Kiwi on the float to take him to a neighbouring agistment property where they were going to open the internal gates and let the horses run around the fire if it came. This was eight hours before the fire reached us, and he just wouldn’t load, we tried and tried. The horses remained in the stables all day, and we began filling wheelie bins and gutters with water, in the off chance the fire was going to change direction and come towards us.

Can you describe your feelings when you had to evacuate, with no choice but to leave Kiwi behind? The fire reached us after a wind change at about 7.00pm. We were still planning to stay, as attempts to get Kiwi on the float failed and Mum and Dad had always planned to stay. The stables were relatively safe as they were surrounded by short stubble and are on concrete floors. We first saw flames at around 7.30pm, and the smoke became very thick. At this stage, water bombers were still operating, but it was getting dark. Once they dumped their final loads, they continued circling us blaring their sirens warning us to get out. Everywhere became alight with flames. My sister had left with the three dogs and cat earlier in the day, and her boyfriend, Finn, who is in the CFS came to help us. If we were to lose power we only had two generators, and it became apparent the choices we had were to run for the dam or for already burnt ground. We had about ten minutes to get the horses loaded and out of the property before we became trapped.

I put Kiwi, whose competition name ironically is Fire Storm, out in a paddock which I knew had shelter and water. All of the Stockguard fences were turned off and internal gates left open so he could easily move around the paddocks if he needed to.

I was distraught leaving Kiwi behind, I knew he would be scared, but there just wasn’t another solution. As I left I gave him a kiss and said: good luck buddy, I love you. Of my three horses, he is the fittest and youngest and I hoped like crazy this would help him give survival his best shot.

Where did you evacuate to and what support was available? We were directed by police to head to Mount Pleasant Showgrounds when we reached a roadblock 17km down the road. It wasn’t set up as an evacuation point so there wasn’t any support, but we had yards for the horses and had packed our own hay and feeds during the day when we made the first attempt to evacuate. An amazing lady, Helen Grantham, who had also had to leave horses behind and was there with her other evacuated horses, provided us with snacks and rugs from her float (the cool change made it very cold by midnight) as we all slept in our cars with just the clothes we were standing up in.

How long did you spend not knowing if your home and Kiwi were safe? Once we had left, Dad rang a neighbour, Mick, who had intended to stay and defend. He told Dad that he had fled once the flames reached his paddocks. Dad asked him if there would be anything left and Mick said he thought there was no way there would be. Dad tried to go back with Finn at around 11pm, but the flames were too out of control. It was then we came to the conclusion that it was all gone. We just hoped and prayed that Kiwi wasn’t in pain or suffering if he had, in fact, not been spared. We went to sleep at around 2am, but I’m not sure how much any of us actually slept!

When did you find out that Kiwi had survived and what was your reaction? Dad and Finn got into the fire ground at about 6am the next morning. As they drove up the road it was all burnt. As they turned into our driveway they were amazed to see the roof of the house and barn. As they came further up the driveway they were totally astounded to see Kiwi standing in the paddock where I had left him! His was the only paddock that was completely untouched by fire. He didn’t have a scratch on him. Back at the Mount Pleasant Showgrounds, Mum came running towards me whilst on the phone to Dad saying “Kiwi is fine!”. We both burst into tears, we just kept thinking how? Finn came back to Mt Pleasant and was able to get me back home to see Kiwi. Kiwi was completely untouched and just wanting food and cuddles, I moved him into the stables and the two of us just hugged, I cried, he was nickering and demanding treats. I couldn’t believe it, I’m so incredibly grateful. He had been incredibly brave.

How did you feel returning to the property and how had it been affected? Returning home was confronting, but we were so grateful our house of only 12 months and my brand new stables that Mum and Dad had poured hours of work into were still standing. Unbeknown to us at the time, strangers coming to help our neighbours had become trapped by a falling tree and came up our driveway to hide in the house to save their lives. Sam, Ned and Dougal, as we now know them, were able to save our house using their farm unit and a generator we had left in the house. The fire came within eight metres of our back door. The neighbour they were coming to help and another mate came up later and saved the sheds and stable.

We have lost every part of land on our 80-acre property except the paddock Kiwi was in (approximately 20x40m). We have lost $150,000 worth of fencing, all of our irrigation and the round bales we had in the paddocks.

When were you able to return your horses and what health effects had the fire had on them? The horses returned home after 16 days away being cared for by the Munro family, as all of our Stockguard, albeit a little melted, had survived, so although no longer electric it is still very safe fencing. Kiwi and my new pony Charlie are completely fine, however my old horse Storm colicked 11 days after the fire due to heat stress and an infection from smoke inhalation. He’s as tough as nails and a few days on antibiotics got him back to new.

What are the next steps to regaining normality? Beginning to get fencing and irrigation sorted are our next steps to recovery, as well as ensuring we are at home on dangerous fire days, to continue putting out tree fires and flare-ups. The horses know no difference as the two who are in burnt paddocks are very happy with the round bales that were so generously donated by Alistair and Karen Carmichael from Victor Harbor, who had known Kiwi before I bought him. Storm is happy in the untouched paddock.

In a time of heartbreak then relief, what have you learnt? It is still very early days, but the biggest thing I have learnt is just how many people want to help during a situation like this. We are so incredibly grateful for all of the support, from the Greive family who were strangers at the time they saved our house, to our amazing road of residents who have dropped everything each time any one of us have been in trouble, the Munro’s for looking after the horses and everyone who has supplied horse feed and support — thank you.

At the end of the day, our possessions could have been replaced, but the people and my horses to me are what matters most.

Sign up to our newsletter