There is a precise moment when a person realises how quickly bushfire conditions can change. They’re unlikely to forget it. For Louise Cook-Tonkin, the moment was also ridiculous. The power had gone out, cut by a fire which started 15km north at Ravenswood, so she was trying to toast gluten-free bread on an outside table in 42C heat. Half an hour earlier she had driven through Ravenswood to their home in North Castlemaine and confidently told her husband, Bernie: “I reckon we’re good, it’s looking really clear.”
Now, as she turned the bread, she looked up and saw the first plume of a spot fire a kilometre away. Turning around, she saw another in the opposite direction.
