The nursing home is on the edge of town next to a field of stubble – the dry stalks of harvested cereal plants – which might as well have been matches in Friday’s catastrophic conditions.
As the smoke thickened, the staff took all 36 residents into a common area to monitor them. Then the smoke set off the fire alarms, causing the front door to open, making it even smokier.
Schultz said the staff then moved everyone to a different room.
“The nurse unit manager continued to control the situation locally. I was on teams offering support as much as I could. In the end the doors were closed manually, but still a lot of smoke was coming into the building,” he said.
“Obviously they were very stressed and upset at the time. I think the staff were to a large extent focused on looking after the residents. I’m so proud of them.”
There were visitors seeking shelter as well.
Natimuk Nursing Home director David Schultz.Credit: Nine News
“We had a man whose house burned down who presented to the nursing home. He was sitting in his car, and he didn’t want to come in because he had his two dogs, so we said, ‘We’ll bring the dogs in’,” Schultz said.
Seventy buildings, including 16 homes, were lost in Natimuk on Friday, but the nursing facility was not one of them. Several fire trucks formed ranks that kept the flames at bay.
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“There was stubble on fire, there were trees alight, so they were doing their best to contain the fire and stop it jumping over into our facility,” Schultz said.
Even after the danger subsided, the 60 occupants could not leave.
It was Saturday before roads reopened, so the workers on the morning and afternoon shifts backed up their ordeal by working the night shift too.
When the previous day’s morning staff left, they’d been there for 27 hours.
“The staff have been amazingly resilient. Obviously they’re a bit emotionally up and down,” Schultz said.
The workers will receive debriefings in coming days and will be given leave if they need it. Three staff members lost their homes.
The fire as it raged in Natimuk on Friday. It was Sunday before the 8300-hectare blaze was contained.Credit: The Age
In Natimuk on Monday, CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan summed up the community’s feelings towards the firefighters.
“They knew that that nursing home was a priority,” he said.
“They knew it was a priority for the people in it [and] for the town, they did everything they did. I’m just proud.”
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