Carranaballac Cricket Club reduced to ashes after fire in western Victorian community of Streatham

When fires were bearing down on their home at Streatham, in Victoria's west, on Friday, Leigh and Pauline Graham got ready to leave.

Ms Graham took their dog to nearby Skipton, and Mr Graham threw some essentials in the car before he went off to fulfil his duties as a Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteer and fight the fires on his neighbour's property.

As he left, he knew it was too late to save his home of 14 years.

It is one of at least a dozen homes destroyed by the fires that tore through Streatham, Carranballac and Skipton in western Victoria.

But Mr Graham is also devastated by the loss of his "second home" — the clubrooms of the Carranballac Cricket Club, which were also destroyed in the fires.

The club's Facebook page sums up the heartbreak.

"To some, this was just an old tin shed, but to us it was much more," it reads.

"In good times or bad, this is where we shared memories and made new ones.

"A place our children grew up in, maybe took their first steps".

Mr Graham played his first game in 1971 and returned to the club in the early 2000s.

"I've been playing there ever since, and now I get the pleasure of playing with my three sons," he said.

Ashes to ashes

Mr Graham has spent countless hours maintaining and watering the field, and said the club was crucial to the small, tight-knit community.

"It has always been a place that anyone can rock up to on a Thursday night when we are training and have a quiet beer," he said.

Despite losing his home on Friday, Mr Graham was out playing cricket on Sunday in an over-60s team that he captains.

"My wife actually told me to go and play," Mr Graham said.

Club president Luke Jackson said hearing the clubrooms had been destroyed was heart-wrenching.

"I had been talking to a mate, and he thought [the fire] would have gone past, and then the wind changed and destroyed everything," Mr Jackson said.

Mr Jackson has played at the club for 28 years, since he was a kid.

He said the community support had been overwhelming.

"The community has been wonderful … everyone's getting behind us … it's a bit overwhelming, really," Mr Jackson said.

A fundraiser has started to raise money for the rebuild.

In the meantime, the club will be able to finish its season using the Tatyoon Recreation Reserve as its home ground.