Community
15 January, 2025
Rallying for fire-affected farmers
THE community has rallied behind the efforts of father and son duo Stephen ‘Pappy’ and Jackson Hunt, who transported two truckloads of hay to the fire-affected Grampians last week.
The Hunt family, the owners of Simpson-based Hunt Excavations, made the more than five-hour round trip north of Moyston in solidarity with those who had made their own donations after the south west was impacted by the St Patrick’s Day fires in 2018.
Pappy Hunt said his son had pitched the idea, and the pair didn’t need to spend much time on the thought.
“It was no big deal to us, just helping some others out,” he said.
“People have donated to support our community when there has been a fire out this way, so we wanted to do the same for them.
“I’m not a farmer but my father was among the early settlers at Heytesbury.
“Jackson and I had spare hay from a block we’re leasing so we wanted to donate what we could.”
Mr Hunt said he and his son turned to Need for Feed Australia in search of locals who could add some additional hay to fill their truck.
The family was quickly inundated with support from Ian Lester, Denise O’Keeffe, Kevin and Carla Gass, Dan and Tania Campbell, Paul and Helene Foster, and Brad Plozza.
Not only did the additional support fill their truck, but it also filled a second truck – which Tom ‘Boof’ Robertson donated for the Hunts to use.
“We asked if some others could give a bit, and they were fantastic,” Mr Hunt said.
“That’s the strong thing with farmers – they get busy doing so much each day but when something goes wrong, everyone wants to do their bit.”
The Hunts set off for the trip around 40 minutes beyond Moyston to make their delivery – a trip which Mr Hunt acknowledged was special to undertake with his son, but also heart-wrenching when they arrived to see the devastation.
“To see it burnt like it is unbelievable,” he said.
“Fire is so damaging, it doesn’t take prisoners and destroys everything in its path – homes, farms, animals.
“So many people have lost sheds and fencing; it’s so destructive even the plastic culverts installed on farm tracks melt.
“It was eye-opening but to go with my son, that was special to do that with him.”
The Grampians fire was contained after 21 days thanks to the efforts of hundreds of Country Fire Authority (CFA) units – with volunteers giving up their Christmas to help battle the blaze.
The CFA has since confirmed the fire footprint had a circumference of 422 kilometres – burning more than 76,000 hectares of national park and agricultural land along with four residential properties and 40 outbuildings.
Preliminary data shows more than 775 sheep, one horse, one beef cattle, 1285 beehives and an untold number of wild animals perished.
Need for Feed Australia took to social media to thank the Hunt family, and all involved in the donation, for their efforts – which, at the time of publication, had amassed thousands of interactions.
Mr Hunt said it was rewarding to know how appreciated his small effort had been received by so many, but was quick to acknowledge those who had given far more.
“All credit goes to the CFA, they’re the ones out of in front of it,” he said.
“We played a small part but if you can roll in with a load of hay, it helps.”