ANDREW Nagorcka was in bed on Saturday evening when a fire swept through his Gazette property.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A worker rang and told him the fire was going, and it was close to his land.
Mr Nagorcka and his brother rushed to the farm with their ex-CFA tanker and began battling the blaze.
Amazingly they were able to stave off the flames and save the woolshed and all of the sheep.
An older bluestone home was not so lucky.
“The fire was in the blue gums and we realised our place was alight,” he said.
“You are in a different frame of mind. There’s not a lot of emotion, you are really very focused. We tried to put it out and we realised we still had the shearing shed.
“We were saving it when we realised the house was on fire. It was well beyond saving.”
Fortunately a man who had been staying at the home wasn’t there on Saturday evening, Mr Nagorcka said.
The brothers battled the blaze for more than two hours to ensure it didn’t burn stock.
“One of the guys pushed the stock into one big mob and kept them out of harm’s way,” he said.
“That was very helpful.”
He said after a few hours other CFA units came to help.
“I think we slowed it down and managed to save our sheep, the shearing shed and about a quarter of the farm in the end,” he said.
Mr Nagorcka said it was on the drive home that the reality of the situation sunk in.
“I don’t think my brother and I spoke, we were more thinking about what’s ahead,” he said.