Published On: July 3, 2020

Fire, family, friends and honey

On the morning of December 20, they believed the Cudlee Creek fire threat had passed them untouched, but a sudden wind shift in the late afternoon changed everything

Aristaeus Farms – Cudlee Creek, SA
Davey Premium Master Dealer – Irrigation Pumps N More
Products Donated: DD90-11 DynaDrive and 1x 5113HE Firefighter

When Marc Webb and his wife Rhiann moved into their four-hectare property at Cudlee Creek, South Australia to start up a permaculture farm, apiary and veterans retreat in August last year, they never dreamed they would lose almost everything just four months later.

On the morning of December 20, they believed the Cudlee Creek fire threat had passed them untouched, but a sudden wind shift in the late afternoon changed everything. With only a handful of belongings, Marc and Rhiann escaped the fire themselves but by nightfall 60 per cent of their property had been lost, including their family home, workshop, sheds and fences.

Marc says the fire was very quick, engulfing the pine trees around the property, even though they had spent time getting their property bushfire ready by mowing long grass, widening their narrow road and clearing scrub and dead wood from its edges. They had also planned to install a sprinkler system on their roof but ran out of time.

Marc is a fairly positive person and although the property has lost most of its infrastructure, they still have their campsite and as Marc likes to tell people, plenty of honey to eat, only losing three of their 15 beehives, and that makes them the richest people they know, he says.

As part of their rebuild local Davey Premium Master Dealer, Irrigation Pumps N More, has partnered with Davey to donate a much-needed Davey variable speed pressure system and a Davey petrol firefighter pump, which will help protect their property in the future.

Marc and his family are slowly getting their lives back on track with the help of family, friends and volunteers, some they don’t even know.