Early History

This is some of Ray Watchorn’s stories as told to journalist Joan Thompson, by Fire Control Officer Ray Watchorn, September 1975, with excerpts the book “From Bottle Forest to Heathcote” by Patrick Kennedy.

In 1948 there was a crown fire in the turpentine forest in Heathcote and it burnt several houses. The brigade had about 14 members by then.The next bad fire was in December 1951. It came out of what was then the Heathcote Primitive Reserve (now the Heathcote National Park). As it crossed the highway the traffic kept on moving, there was the driver of a sheep wagon, who drove past us as he was signaled to stop. He got almost to the fire, and then leapt out of the truck, leaving the sheep there to be burnt. They got a driver to get those sheep out. Another car, driven by a man, but carrying women and children, and despite signals, drove into the fire. But a few minutes later, I heard a clash of gears and the driver blindly reversed the car through the smoke. The paint work of the car was sizzling. Also during the fire, a driver of a motor train drove through the fire, from Waterfall to Heathcote. The train caught on fire, but he managed to get it to Heathcote station and then the train burnt out.In January 1952, a fire lingered in a gully at north of Old Bush Road area, for about four days.But when the blow up came, it took off. At 9 a.m. it was raging through Engadine. By about 10am. thousands of pigs and poultry perished, and 12 homes were burnt. That fire finished at the Pacific Ocean.The only equipment the brigade had then were a few knapsack sprays and beaters (which were practically useless) and a few rakes.The only vehicles they had were their own – none of them four wheel drive. They depended heavily on farmers for their vehicles. Pumping equipment was just about non-existent. There were no means of communication, as we know it today, only word of mouth, or occasionally, a fellow on horseback or motor cycle.In 1956 the local bush fire committee (which had only been set up), decided to improve communication by way of 2-way radio. The 2-way radio was not an approved piece of equipment of the N.S.W. Bush Fire Committee (now known as the N.S.W. Bush Fire Council). We knew very little about it, but we learned, and in 1957, we introduced the 2-way radio. “They established a HF radio network, and that was a big step forward. Heathcote did not get reticulated water until 1954 and that started the whole place moving ahead. It changed from a rural area to a suburban area. Until then, the brigade had to get water from resident’s wells or creeks. They had all these points marked on sketch maps. Sutherland Shire started getting tankers in the mid-fifties and in the late fifties they started getting motorised equipment, such as pumps, which were not really well developed at that time. In about 1961, Sutherland developed a group system and appointed three deputy group captains and the shire was divided into three shire zones. In 1967 Sutherland expanded further, and appointed an area communications officer, an area training officer, and a first aid and safety instructor. This took up some of the load and group officers were able to develop their zones, upgrade the brigades and conduct more extensive training. They also started dealing with fires from a central point, Ray Watchorn’s (who by this time was FCO) home in Heathcote. 1968 was a bad year for fires and is explained by Ray Watchorn what occurred; Then came 1968. Probably the worst year I have ever experienced. It was a drought year, and we were dealing with fires right through winter. Around August, we had a tussle to save Waterfall from fires which had come out of the Heathcote State Park. In September, I recall, I decided to go for a holiday with my wife. I got to Katoomba, and we stayed overnight in a motel. The following morning, I saw a lot of smoke coming from the direction of the coast so we came back. That fire was in the Liverpool area. I decided as we were so close to home, we could come home. I was not in the door 10 minutes when I got a call to go to a fire between Heathcote and Waterfall, and managed to get that out. Even though we got to it in the early stages – we managed to get it out, despite the fact that it was burning fiercely. Within an hour, we had another fire at Loftus. By this time, there was a very brisk S.W. breeze. It was very dry and very hot. The fire started from the railway property at Loftus. It was mid-week. We decided to get what tankers we could into it. We had spot firing problems, and the fire got out of control. Until later in the day, we could not get more equipment and men through to the fire, and it burn through to Grays Point. We controlled it at Grays Point, behind the school, and prevented it getting into the N.W. Arm and Kirrawee area. That was a four-day operation. That was the end of my holiday. It was 24th October when I was called to a fire at Menai, in the Allies Road area, (12 acre pig farm) in the morning. We were all commenting that it was so hot, and the humidity was so low, and even though it was only between 9 and 10 in the morning, the fire was difficult to control. We had almost completed mopping up and I looked across in a N.E. direction and saw a column of smoke under the power transmission lines. I whipped around to where I thought it was, and could not reach it because I was on the wrong side of the gully. I radioed for the Menai Brigade tanker and directed them where to go. Two ten year old kids had lit the fire, thinking they were doing a good thing. It went so fast down hill to the Woronora River, we just could not catch it. That was the beginning of the big fire of 1968 which burnt along Menai – on the east side and went across the Woronora River. It burnt just about everything on the west side of the Woronora River, went through Engadine, Loftus and Sutherland, Audley, past Bundeena, Maianbar and Grays Point, threatening life and property at each point, and on to the coast. We prevented it swinging back to where it would have threatened East Heathcote. Seven fires from different directions threatened Heathcote during the following weeks. But, only an unoccupied house and-three shacks were lost in 1968. The house was not burnt out. It exploded. The fire had been around it, we put the fire out, but the owner went away for the day. The fire had passed away some 2 minutes earlier when there was an explosion and the house burst into flames. It was the accumulated heat. The owner told me later, he had constructed the house in such a way, on top of a hill, that on the coldest day, he could get a temperature of 95 degrees in the house. When the men were fighting fires around Loftus, and the radiated heat was so bad, the fire fighters were lying on their stomachs with their hoses in their hands, trying to protect the properties and succeeding. About 500 volunteers and probably another couple of hundreds, about 300 people who had previous bush fire fighting training, were fighting that fire. The Scout Association, for whom I had conducted weekend fire courses for the St.George Area Boy Scouts for many years, played an important role in the mopping up operations. During this time, I realised our equipment had taken a hell of a belting and we did not have time to maintain it. Our men were just about beat. I had no reserves, even though the fire had reached a crisis … the men who were exhausted and had been going for days without sleep, could not be relieved. I advised the Shire President by Radio, to declare – a State of Emergency. My main reason for this was so that we could maintain the support we were getting from the fire brigade, and the police force and other organisations. If I had not done so, there were so many emergency situations in and around Sydney being declared in that dreadful season, that men and equipment would have been impossible to get.. or could have been redirected to the other places. An emergency controller was appointed and sent out here to coordinate the activities. That situation lasted for four days, then was handed back before the fire was under control, another fire started in the Holsworthy Army area and was coming towards us. I went out at about 2.00am, because I was concerned about it.The fire was out of control. I got Sutherland Police to get out the Army Captains. The fire came across the Heathcote Road and went towards Sandy Point. That became a major operation, which lasted for a couple of weeks. The whole of the area, from there to Menai was burnt. This fire finished where the first fire had started.Except for Heathcote and the State Park and everything south, the fires burnt from Holsworthy to the coast.. We helped out at Helensburgh and (which were experiencing frightful fires, too). During the period October 24 until December 4, 1968, I only had one day off. At the end of that time, when we had just finished mopping up, it poured with rain. During the 1968 fires we had Councillor Skinner join forces with us at fire control headquarters and for sometime, he became my driver, because I had gone beyond the point of driving I recall we had to go to Bundeena, which was threatened. The whole of the area beside the road was a mass of fire on the way out. A southerly buster hit, while we were at Bundeena.We had the Captain with us, too. I told Kevin to go to Engadine. The fire stretched across the road in front of us and behind us. We shut the windows and vents, and kept going. Kevin drove by following the white dots on the centre of the road. That was all you could see. That was probably the most hazardous drive of our lives. When we got to Audley, we could see headlights. Another car had followed us out…. it was a newspaper reporter. This was the next biggest one it came in from the Royal National Park with a southerly buster behind it and the gasses in the air must have been terrific. I can recall flames high in the air, over Engadine like a giant umbrella. Several spot fires were started in Engadine, but the bush fire brigades, put them out. Only the work sheds at the railway were destroyed. How some of the petrol stations, with their breather pipes going high into the air, did not explode, I do not know. One particular thing that struck me as peculiar was the behaviour of people. Some were frozen to the ground. Could not move. Others ran, their legs going so fast they looked like a Charlie Chaplin movie. I am sure half of them did not know where they were going. Panic did set in, in some areas. We nearly lost 2 tankers and about 60 men in a back burn operation … but training and Discipline carried the day.