Submitted by daniel on Tue, 13/01/2026 - 22:31 Picture Image Description Pictures by Petra Oates Farmers and CFA volunteers who fought a fast-moving grass fire that tore through Streatham and Skipton on Friday described it as a "nightmare three hours". Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news across the nation or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & app The digital version of This Week's Paper Our entire network The fire, which started five kilometres north of Streatham in the early afternoon, razed through about 19,299 hectares and burnt 59 structures including 18 houses. The tight-knit farming community is grappling with huge livestock, crop and machinery losses estimated to equal millions of dollars. Charlie and Amanda Fairbairn-Calvert's property near Skipton was decimated in the fire, with 90 per cent of their 2430ha farm burnt. Along with a significant portion of land and crops burnt, the family lost a third of their sheep flock - 2000 Merino breeding ewes - and 1500 bales of hay they had just cut and relocated from four different blocks. "It was horrendous," Mr Fairbairn-Calvert said. "Everything was just gone. "We only managed to save one or two of the last crops that hadn't yet been stripped out the back." The couple share the family property with their daughter Anna and her husband Tom, their son Clive, his wife Emily and their two young boys. Mr Fairbairn-Calvert said they were able to save their main house but lost another house nearby on the property where a former employee was living. His son nearly lost his house, a cottage on the farm only a two-minute drive away from the main residence. "The fire came within metres of the cottage," he said. "A helicopter dumped a load of water and saved it just in time." The fast-moving fire was extremely unpredictable on Friday afternoon when a sudden wind change swung it in a westerly direction where it gained incredible speed and burned through open country in Carranballac and Skipton and surrounds. "When the wind turned, it came at us very quickly," Ms Fairbairn-Calvert said. "My son was out fighting the fire and he called us and said it's turned to shit and told us all to get out immediately." The women, children and dogs were able to get away while Mr Fairbairn-Calvert stayed back to defend the main house with help from the local brigades. The family's neighbours, Skipton CFA captain Ben Cameron and his wife Meera, were also home defending their house from the fire. In the strong winds of the afternoon, a spark flew from the original blaze and ignited a spot fire roughly 4km from the main fire. Mr Cameron said the two fires were coming for their house from both directions. "One front came through the north of our farm and burnt to about a kilometre away from our house," he said. "And a second spot fire started in our south-west corner and got within about half a kilometre from the house. "The chopper dumped water and saved us as well." While the Camerons were able to save their house, they sustained significant damage from the two fronts of the fire. Mr Cameron said roughly 80pc of their land was burnt and they lost 600 of the 2200 sheep on their property. "We just had no time to prepare," he said. "It all just happened. "When the wind changed, it was so strong it blew the roof off our wool shed." In the aftermath of the blaze, both families said the support of the community had been nothing short of incredible. The same neighbour returned with a second load of hay on Monday. Fires have continued to break out in the days following the fire as residual heat from Friday's blaze continues to reignite spot fires. The community remains on high alert. Daily Daily Headlines Today's top stories curated by our news team. As it happens Breaking news alert Be the first to know when news breaks. Twice a week Rural Property News Our twice weekly wrap of the latest in rural property sales. Daily Your favourite puzzles Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily! Twice a week Dairy News Industry news from Australia's dairy sector. Twice a week Red Meat News Our twice weekly wrap of the big news in the red meat sector. Weekly Good Fruit & Vegetables The week's top stories curated by our news team. Advertisement Ad Advertisement Ad Web Link 'We just had no time': farmers count the cost of devastating Skipton fire - Sto… Stock & Land