People affected by the Little Desert National Park fires are receiving assistance from BlazeAid, after the group set up a base at Goroke Recreation Reserve last week.

Camp co-ordinator Chris Male said while the group’s volunteers predominantly worked on replacing boundary fences, they were available to assist in other ways.

“There are lots of folks that need lots of different things done,” she said.

“I’ve been told about some people who had their gardens burnt, and we’re happy to clean that up because there’s nothing worse than stepping out your back door every morning and being confronted with all the trauma that’s been. So we clean that up, and it helps people feel better.”

Working with local councils, BlazeAid currently has about 20 people volunteering in recovering efforts.

“We have a lot of retired caravanners helping us out, and we’re working with government departments to make sure we can take in working holiday visa applicants, which will swell our numbers – it’s fantastic to have them,” Ms Male said.

She said she and her team assessed each case before work began.

“We simply go and have a look and if all we can see is burnt black paddocks, that’ll do,” she said.

“We’re here to help. We’re not here to get weighed down with bureaucratic nonsense. 

“Farmers can’t farm if they haven’t got fences or water troughs and poly pipe running to where it needs to go, so we’ve just got to get on with it.”

Ms Male said BlazeAid would be at Goroke for about six months and encouraged people to contact her for assistance.

“It’s really important that no one slips through the cracks. I want to make sure everybody who needs help, gets it,” she said.

“We’ve got plenty of people here who can offer physical help as well as empathy and sympathy – I think 49 per cent of what we do is fencing and 51 per cent of what we do is caring and helping.”

Funded by grants, monetary gifts and donations of time, Ms Male said people often donated baked goods for morning and afternoon tea.

“If there’s any folk at home who have time and they’re making a batch of biscuits, we ask them to make a double batch – we really need that community assistance,” she said. 

“And we’re connoisseurs of jam drops here – a community is judged on its jam drops.”

Ms Male said people who would like to volunteer, donate, or those in need of help, could call her on 0418 745 994. 

“Locals can assist – they can contact me so I know they’re coming, and I can make sure they’re on a team. That’s all that’s required,” she said.

The entire March 5, 2025 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!