James Douglas struggles when he talks about the hundreds of injured sheep he has had to kill.
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On Saturday night lightning hit at Cheviott Hill, winds pushing flames into his Waverley Run property near Big Springs.
As soon as Mr Douglas saw what was unfolding he hooked his water tanker to the ute and drove towards the fire in a desperate bid to save the 5000 sheep at the property.
But it was no use, the flames were too ferocious and the winds too hot and strong.
Mr Douglas’s wife, Jacinda, helped him fill up the water tank and they tried to move stock and put their fire preparations in place.
But by yesterday 1100 sheep, valued at $110,000, were dead.
The number is expected to rise because many sheep are unable to walk from burns to their feet.
“We were concerned the fire would reach the house,” Mrs Douglas said.
“I went to save a mob of sheep but I had to leave them behind – I couldn’t believe how fast the fire was,” Mr Douglas added.
“The flames were only five metres away from me.”
Firefighters rushed to the scene and fought throughout the night to contain the fire which was brought under control by Sunday morning.
They remained at the scene patrolling the burnt grass yesterday in anticipation of the extreme conditions and variable winds expected today.
Mr Douglas and his father, Les, who owns Cheviott Hills, have had the heartbreaking task of having to kill all the injured sheep.
They have not stopped working since the fire broke out.
Both described the horror of a pile of about 500 of the animals pushed up against each other at a fence, blackened and “barbecued” as they became stuck when the fire closed in.
But despite the damage after only moving to the property 18 months ago, the Douglas’ said they were touched by the community support they’d received.
“We’re pretty worn out but we’ve had a lot of help,” Mrs Douglas said.
“Everyone has banded together and helped with things like picking up the dead.”
Mr Douglas added that they were keeping positive for their mixed farm of crops, cattle and sheep.
“I love this property, it’s probably the best spot we’ve ever been,” he said.
