Terang RSL secretary Pam Bell said the spirit of giving shown by the Blaze Aid volunteers during the Terang district’s time of need after the St Patrick’s Day fires was greatly appreciated by the community.

Member for Wannon Dan Tehan also commended the Blaze Aid volunteers in his address to the Terang Anzac Day ceremony.

Blaze Aid founder Kevin Butler was at the Terang dawn service and was heartened by the parallels drawn between the spirit shown by Blaze Aid volunteers and the Anzacs.

Mr Butler said teams of Blaze Aid volunteers were working on Anzac Day, replacing fences burnt in the March 17 blazes.

More than 100 volunteers, working out of Blaze Aid camps at Terang, Cobden and Macarthur, have been renewing fences and other fire-affected farm assets since the first week after the fires.

Mr Butler said the motivation of the volunteers was strong and the work continued seven days a week.

Blaze Aid’s work got a boost this week with a $10,000 donation from Warrnambool livestock and real estate agency SKB Rodwells.

SKB Rodwells general manager Simon Henderson said its stock agents were very aware of the big impact the fires had on some clients after helping them move stock from burnt out paddocks.

Some staff had helped clients replace burnt fences and the company decided to support their effort with the $10,000 donation to Blaze Aid.

Mr Henderson said the company had made the donation to Blaze Aid’s Post and Wire program some time after the blazes to help remind the community that fire victims were still in need of support.

Mr Butler said Blaze Aid had so far distributed vouchers worth a total of $126,200 to fire-affected farmers that they could use at rural merchandise and hardware stores to replace farm assets destroyed in the blazes. 

He said the value of the vouchers given to individual farmers varied from $200 to $2000. 

Further distributions of vouchers were planned and some farmers in very trying circumstances because of the fires would receive multiple vouchers, Mr Butler said.