The last couple of weeks in March were a worrying time for Westfield residents, Jane and Jeff Parsons, and their son, Nick.

The Parsons’ other son, Andrew – who emigrated to Australia, married and settled there some thirteen years ago – and his family, found themselves facing a very serious bush fire, which started very close to their home in Reedy Swamp, Tarraganda, New South Wales.

According to reports, the probable cause was sparking from damaged overhead power lines, and with a temperature in the high thirties, strong winds and the forest floor covered with dry and very combustible material – a recipe for a good old blaze.

Fortunately for Andrew, the wind was blowing away from his property, but nevertheless, the family were evacuated to safety for a few days.

Such was the ferocity of the fire, that in no time it had roared down the lower slopes of Dr George Mountain and jumped the natural fire break of the lower Bega River valley and spread to the beachside community of Tathra, where over seventy dwellings were destroyed, but with no loss of life.

Andrew, a volunteer in the Tarraganda station of the NSW Rural Fire Service, was kept on duty for three days, helping to fight the fire, which had covered over 3,000 acres of forest. Even now, some two weeks later, there are still small pockets of smouldering debris.

The last serious fire of this magnitude was some thirty years ago.