Volunteer firefighters were left stranded when their trucks broke down while they were fighting a fast-moving grassfire near the Victorian town of Benalla.
The grassfire, which destroyed 1,600 hectares of farmland, was sparked by farm machinery being used during harvesting at Goomalibee yesterday morning.
One house and six sheds were destroyed.
Hamish McMillan from the Whitegate Country Fire Authority (CFA) brigade was driving a truck over crops on the fire ground yesterday.
“Unknowingly to us, the part of the crop underneath our truck that we were dragging around under us was burning,” Mr McMillan said.
“It took the power out of our truck — we had nothing except we had the 12-volt system.”
Firefighters battling the blaze near Benalla were left stranded when their truck broke down. (Supplied: Murray Parton)
Second Lieutenant at the Whitegate CFA Murray Parton was on the same truck.
“Luckily we pulled up on the black [burnt ground] so we were able to jump off,” he said.
A short time later, the Whitegate crew saw another truck from the Goorambat brigade broken down about 500 metres away.
It was also damaged by burning crop.
“They couldn’t do anything,” Mr Parton said.
“They called for mayday but no-one came.”
Mr Parton said he felt helpless as they watched the Goorambat truck go up in flames.
“We had no radios. We just had to sit and watch,” he said.
Mr McMillan said a mayday call was made when crews needed help as a matter of priority because lives were potentially at risk.
“If you come under direct fire attack or a burnover or you need to make an emergency mayday call, you press that button and the location and the identification of that truck are immediately sent to the command centre,” Mr McMillan said.
“No-one went to the assistance of that truck.”
The Goorambat CFA truck caught alight while crews were battling the Goomalibee grassfire. (Supplied: Murray Parton)
Volunteers left reeling
The ordeal has left Mr McMillan questioning whether CFA volunteers are valued.
“It basically put out [the message] that if you press that button and you’re in a bushfire, no-one’s going to come,” Mr McMillan said.
“At the end of the day we are all just volunteers, so I’d like to know that when you do press that duress button, help is coming as it should be.”
CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said the crew had made a Triple Zero (000) call and were removed from the fireground by another tanker.
“Triple Zero Victoria records show the call from the crew was made, acknowledged and logged in the official incident record,” he said.
“CFA tankers in the area were on site and able to assist the crew and remove them from the fireground.”
Several fire trucks out of action
The CFA confirmed that four trucks experienced difficulties during the fire, including the Goorambat and Whitegate tankers.
Two others were affected by radiant heat.
Mr Heffernan said the CFA took the maintenance of its equipment seriously.
“All emergency response vehicles within the CFA fleet are maintained by our expert mechanical officers,” he said.
“[The vehicles] are subject to annual maintenance servicing and an annual fire-worthy inspection by qualified technical staff to ensure they are in good working order.”
The fire at Goomalibee, near Benalla, was sparked by farm machinery. (Supplied: Murray Parton)
Total fire ban not declared
Fire conditions at Goomalibee were intense, with temperatures reaching 42 degrees and erratic winds.
The CFA has defended the decision not to declare a Total Fire Ban for the North East district on Thursday.
Mr Heffernan said the decision was based on available data.
“A total fire ban is declared based on the forecast issued by the BOM, fire danger index, wind, fuel and heat conditions, including consultation with local fire managers to ensure local input,” Mr Heffernan said.
“Whilst extreme fire dangers were observed at the Wangaratta AWS on the day (18/12/25), Total Fire Ban declarations are made on forecasts provided to the CFA the day prior (17/12/25).”