While Carpendeit dairy farmer Alasdair Campbell escaped the St Patrick’s Day fires, he heard some heart-wrenching stories of loss about those who were not so lucky.
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That was one of the reasons why he was among the audience at Saturday’s fund raising concert for fire victims that was staged by Warrnambool’s The Loft live music venue.
Mr Campbell said fires had come close to his property before, most recently when one near Scoullers Road at Stonyford threatened in 2014, and he knew the perils that farmers faced.
He is among the big crowd at The Loft that will hear about 10 performers play long into Saturday night.
Performers include Shane Howard, Nancy Schipper, Cooper Lower and the Likely Celts.
The Loft owner Lynny Mast said the fund raising concert was the way she could help fire victims.
“Some people build fences, some people play music.
“We all help where we can,” Ms Mast said.
She said money raised from the $10 admission charge would go to the Salvation Army and a percentage of the bar sales would go to the Country Fire Authority.
She said she had chosen the two organisations as the beneficiaries because they were either fighting the fires or helping fire victims soon afterwards.
“When I started organising the concert, there were no major fund raising appeals.
“I looked at who was out there already and the Salvos were,” Ms Mast said.