The aftermath of the 20th of December Holland Creek, Cudlee Creek bushfires has left total devastation behind for many people and businesses and a lot of rebuilding is now in process. Compared to the Sampson Flat fire in 2015 which completely ravaged everything at Mt Bera, we are extremely lucky this time, as although about 30 hectares of our property has been burnt, it is grazing and bushland which will hopefully recover. All buildings, vineyards and animals remain untouched. We had 3 days of fire attacks from different directions, and it was stopped at the rim around the house vineyard, and in the valley behind the other vineyards. This was followed by a week or so checking spot fires near containment lines. Only time will tell what this vintage will bring, and fingers are crossed that the fruit will not be smoke tainted, but we are hopeful as the smoke was generally moving away from the vineyards. Some images of the fire damage around our property are included below.
Once again we send out a heartfelt thanks to the many people who came and fought the fires on our property, and others across the very frightening few days; those fighting from the ground; from the local community with private firefighting units, CFS, MFS, National Parks, Forestry SA, and the amazing grader driver clearing containment lines, and those from the sky; aerial bombers and the Ericsson Chopper, we are forever thankful.
We would like to thank everyone who supported us at this difficult time, through the beautiful messages we received through many different sources. We are sorry if we did not respond to your message, we were very thankful for each and every one, just were very busy in the days surrounding the fires.
Greg has now contributed to many sources aimed at providing more information to growers about vineyard recovery after fires, sharing experiences with our long and difficult period of rebuilding after being burnt out on the 3rd of January 2015 by the Sampson Flat Bushfires. The aim is to help provide information to be able to make decisions about how to approach the recovery of the vineyards, and hopefully give some hope to those who have lost so much. Although aimed more towards other growers, if anyone is interested the following blog link has details about each vineyard treatment to recovery. https://mtberavineyards.com.au/vineyard-recovery-post-bushfire/
Many people in the Adelaide Hills have been affected so your support of businesses in the area is greatly appreciated, at a time when it is needed the most.
