WHEN Noora Al Matori left Oura to take her mother to Wagga to visit the doctor yesterday morning, she had no idea of the danger that was about to unfold.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“As I was leaving I saw the smoke from really far away and I thought that would be around Gundagai – it was nowhere near Oura,” she said.
But just a couple of hours later, she got a call from friends while in the surgery’s waiting room that painted a very different picture.
Ms Al Matori cancelled her mother’s appointment and raced back to Oura, where she saw a thick column of black smoke bearing down on the township.
“When I was driving into Oura, I saw everyone going back to Wagga so I was worried it was really serious,” she said.
“It came really fast and we couldn’t see the fire at all in the beginning, we just saw the smoke.”
When they returned to Oura they did what they could to prepare their home for the onslaught before being told by police that the time had come to evacuate.
She and her parents had just 20 minutes to gather what belongings they could from their home.
After registering as evacuees at Wagga Police Station, they headed for a motel in the city where they spent last night.
The situation in Oura eased late yesterday, with police lifting the evacuation order after firefighters forced the blaze behind containment lines.
But with extreme fire conditions forecast today, Ms Al Matori and her parents are taking no chances and are planning to stay put in Wagga for another night.
“Whatever happens to the home, it just happens,” she said.
“As long as we’re safe, that’s all that matters.”
RELATED COVERAGE
