Australia Day barbecue turns to toast

By Sarah Schwager
AUSTRALIA Day celebrations were brought to a halt for a Kooweerup family last Thursday after a shed caught fire on the property, sending clouds of smoke billowing into the air.
Kooweerup couple James Angus and Lyn Shand were at home with their sevenweekold baby Kiana when hay stored in the shed suddenly burst into flames.
Ms Shand said her partner had been mowing the lawn at their Hudson Lane home around 10.30am in preparation for an Australia Day barbecue at their house that afternoon and had just put the mower back in the shed.
“It was so fast it was unbelievable,” she said. “It’s still a bit of a mystery how it happened. It might have been the combustion of the hay or heat from the mower.”
As well as the shed, the couple lost 280 bales of hay, a car, two lawn mowers, including a rideon mower, horse gear, saddles, fuel cans and items from inside the car, including files from their accounting business.
“It’s amazing how many things you keep in the car and don’t think about,” Ms Shand said. “I’m just glad we took the laptop out.”
Ms Shand said she and Mr Angus had been worried about Kiana, but she had slept through the whole ordeal.
“She was fine,” she said. “I was really panicky. I wasn’t sure whether to leave her inside or take her out. We weren’t sure if the fire would spread or if the house would be affected by the smoke.”
Fire crews from Kooweerup, Bayles, Tooradin, Lang Lang and Frankston attended the blaze, which took 30 minutes to control and two and a half hours to extinguish.
Kooweerup CFA Captain Craig Lansdown said it had been a shock to local crews, some of who had planned to attend the couple’s barbecue that afternoon. “It was a big shock when it was their place that we were called to,” Captain Lansdown said. “But they were very lucky.”
Ms Shand said locals were shocked and surprised when the barbecue was cancelled, given that it was an Australia Day tradition. “This year was a different barbecue from the one planned. We scared a lot of people.”
Ms Shand said that ironically they had storm damage at their home the following day (Friday) with rain coming inside the house.
“The main thing now is that we are all safe and no one got hurt,” she said.
Neighbouring resident Deirdre Hosking also lost her car in the fire.
She said friends had been helping out but mostly she would be pottering around at home without the car.