Crosslight - Edition April 2020

From P17
Rabbi David, chaplain with the Army,
offers Jude a seat on the Bushmaster
Protected Mobility Vehicle that’s heading
to Cann River. It’s an adventure and
a relief to be respected as one of the
professionals and part of the team.
Locals can be so easily overlooked
when an exuberance of outside helpers
descends.
Jude’s place in the community has
been galvanised through her gentle,
constant, honest and open response to
this disaster. She’s written two articles
for the weekly Mallacoota Mouth, one
for a NZ Baptist magazine and her own
church council report. After a few week’s
leave with Andy, she’s looking forward to
the ministry that will flow from this time.
“We’ve had a voice and a presence, and
we’ve done our best,” she says.
Lakes Entrance
Never aspiring to be in this position,
captain of the Lakes Entrance Country
Fire Authority and Uniting Church
member, Phil Loukes, says you do what
you have to, because that’s what needs
to be done.
Phil’s putting faith into action and
explains that God’s grace comes in so
many everyday things, especially when
disaster breaks us open and makes
us vulnerable to each other. We can
experience so much goodness: deep
and open conversations, outrageous
kindness, gratitude and compassion in
the most unlikely places. It also allows
us to stand up to what’s harmful and
have the power to challenge and change
things.
When he was young, Phil thought
he had to work hard to prove he was
acceptable to God. Now he knows he’s
loved, regardless, and he just needs to be
the shepherd, looking after the people
in his midst, whoever they are. Caring,
managing, leading, loving and wrapping
his arms around them in the pain. That’s
why God has put him here.
Phil’s lived in Lakes Entrance all his
life and been involved in a multitude
of community organisations, having
joined the CFA as a junior member in
1971. Co-owning and working in one
of the oldest family businesses in the
area, he maintains the commercial
TV and radio infrastructure in East
Gippsland, employs a number of locals
and provides specialist technicians to
schools and communities from Dinner
Plain to Buchan, Gelantipy to Marlo and
everywhere in between.
December 30, 2019, is indelibly
imprinted in his mind. His son Aaron
is on the Bairnsdale side of Sarsfield
leading a strike team and Phil and his
team are on the other side towards
Bruthen. Many of his crew have not
experienced the kind of fire behaviour
that’s happening around Sarsfield. It’s
hot, fast, loud, erratic and unpredictable.
By the numbers
2779
Number of
HOUSES DESTROYED
At 3am they’re fatigued and he gathers
the team together. Warning them they
have witnessed a fire in their home patch
that has destroyed houses, businesses,
wildlife and maybe even human life, he
sends them back to the station. They
will all know people who have been
impacted. The cost will be huge.
Packing up to leave, Phil is approached
by one of his crew who asks to be taken
to his home. It’s right in the fire zone
and his business is also there. About
4am they make their way as safely as
possible to his property, knowing there
is little hope. While he’s been away
fighting this monster of a fire, Phil has
lost two houses, all his flower-growing
equipment, all sheds except one and all
the plants in his fields and hothouses.
His CFA mates feel raw and helpless
and all they can do is arrange safe
transport to Sale where he will break the
devastating news to his wife.
Phil isn’t the only CFA member to be in
this situation on this night. In the midst
of all this loss and pain, Phil’s concerned
for his daughter. She’s gone with a CFA
team about the Buchan area that’s been
heavily impacted, and communication is
down. He won’t hear that she’s safe for
another 12 hours or more.
On 3 January, before the next “spike
day” when the weather will turn nasty
for fire activity again, Phil consults
with the Incident Control Centre and
gathers all the local emergency services
and representatives from key medical
and Indigenous groups. The decision
is made to evacuate the area. There’s
a huge weight in having to deliver this
message to thousands of holiday makers
and locals, but Phil is motivated and
strengthened by more than his CFA
experience. After Black Saturday, he had
to break the news to his wife, parents-inlaw
and family that their brother and son
had perished in the fire. Nobody should
have to bear the pain of that loss.
The community meeting is packed,
and the message is heard and
heeded. By lunchtime the next day,
the population of Lakes Entrance has
decreased from an estimated 45,000
people to just 2000. They’re safe, but
the economic cost is massive. The effect
of this evacuation will be long-lasting.
Shops will close, some sooner than
others. The food and clothing stores that
have borrowed on their overdrafts to
stock up for summer are in dire trouble.
The pubs and cafes can’t pay wages
and are throwing out food. The holiday
rentals are cancelled, and cleaners are
without work. Phil’s business won’t be
able to access schools for up to seven
weeks, so his work and income stops.
Many businesses will not survive the next
few months, especially the smaller ones.
While acting as a sector commander
on the ground and supporting a
couple of strike teams in the Murrindal
grasslands, Phil makes a trip out beyond
W Tree to Gelantipy. The captain of the
Gelantipy CFA belongs to a farming
family and they’ve been hit hard. He’s
lost more than 50km of fencing that’s
Continued P20
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