Amazing story from yesterday’s Mercury newspaper and reported earlier from ABC TV’s 7.30 Report (at about 2 minutes in)
Reluctant heroes
A DUNALLEY family has become the international face of the Tasmanian bushfire disaster with incredible photos showing them sheltering under a jetty as a firestorm obliterated their home. …
By yesterday afternoon, a popular news website reported 20 million hits on their story and media outlets from France, Ireland and Canada have picked it up.
The [Tim and Tammy] Holmes were looking after their five grandchildren aged between two and 11 last Friday while their daughter, Bonnie Walker, attended a funeral in Hobart.
“We knew it was going to be a hot day and we needed to be prepared for the possibility of fire, but there was no indication of what was to come until much later,” Mr Holmes told the Mercury yesterday.
Mrs Walker’s husband David, a chaplain at Dunalley Primary School which was also destroyed in the blaze was two days into a six-day bushwalking trip in the state’s remote far South-West.
The family’s amazing tale of survival came to light when a media helicopter offered to collect Mr Walker to reunite him with his family.
“We’ve always been a very close family,” Mr Holmes said.
“We knew David would be concerned if he found out about the fire in Dunalley from other walkers.
“There was a pathway between our houses and the children were with us as much as they were in their parents’ house.
“We’re alive, we’re together, we’re a family and not one hair on a child’s head has been lost.”
Standing in front of the rubble that was their house awaiting an insurance assessor yesterday, the couple said the family’s strong Christian faith and love for each other would see them embrace the challenges ahead.
“We saw the fire on the hill and I wasn’t going to waste time so I told Tammy to go the water with the children, I’ll talk to the fireman and I’ll see you there,” Mr Holmes said.
“Tammy told the children ‘we’re going down to the jetty.’
“We had a plan in the morning and we stuck to it. It was mid-afternoon, I had the firefighting pump going and at that moment the fire trucks flew up the drive and I said ‘great we’re saved’.
“Then I saw a tornado of flames hit and I thought ‘I’m going I need to be with the children.
“A second firebomb hit the paddock as I started running.”
Mrs Holmes had the children on the beach.
The couple was well aware they needed shelter from the smoke under the jetty.
“We were out about 50m from the shore. We had to stay close to the jetty to get air because the smoke was so intense,” Mr Holmes said. …
The Holmes say they never feared for their or the children’s lives in the face of an unimaginable threat.
“There was a beautiful sense of calm right throughout the entire experience. We prayed for our safety,” Mr Holmes said.
Full Mercury report, Reluctant Heroes. Also, Bushfires: Updates Tasman Area.
