A Welsh grandfather dramatically saved his five grand-children from wildfires that destroyed their home in the town of Dunalley, Tasmania, by helping them cling to a jetty “up to their chins” in water.
Tim Holmes, 62, a potter who was born in Wales who went to live in Tasmania 30 years ago, and his wife Tammy were looking after their five grandchildren, aged two to 11, earlier this week while their parents Bonnie and David Walker were away.
As the wildfire neared, Mr Holmes sent his wife, the children and pet dog Polly to the nearby sea jetty – the only place where they hoped the flames could not reach.
He said of the approaching flames: “We saw tornadoes of fire just coming across towards us.
“There was only about probably 200 millimetres to 300 millimetres of air above the water. So we were all just heads, water up to our chins just trying to breathe because the atmosphere was so incredibly toxic.”
He told ABC radio: “Everything was exploding around us, it raged on for about three hours.
“There was no other escape other than the jetty. It was our sanctuary.”
At times, Mr Holmes had to scoop water out from the sea to keep the flames, licking at the sides of the jetty, at bay.
Eventually, Mr Holmes was able to get a dinghy to ferry the family to safety to a hotel outside the fire zone.
Bonnie Walker, mother to Matilda, 11, Liam, nine, Caleb, six, Esther, four, and Charlotte, two, said she was “braced to lose her children and parents” after being cut off from them by the fires for several hours.
She had been away from home attending a funeral but got a message saying her family were surrounded by fire. Later, she was shown a dramatic photo of her family under the jetty.
She said: “It’s still quite upsetting to see the image, it’s all of my, our five children underneath the jetty huddled up to neck deep sea water, which is cold.
“I knew that would be a challenge to keep three non-swimmers above water and with only my mum and dad, and our eldest daughter.”
Welsh born Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, from Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan visited Tasmania at the weekend to show support for residents.
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