Ron Fuller vows to rebuild after losing home to 'extraordinary' NSW bushfire

Updated October 18, 2013 14:56:01

A former ABC reporter and volunteer firefighter has described the devastation of losing his home to the New South Wales bushfires, and vowed to rebuild.

Ron Fuller's house at Winmalee in the lower Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, was reduced to little more than ash when a fire swept through his street on Thursday.

Audio: Ron Fuller speaks to AM (AM)

Mr Fuller reported on many bushfires during his time at the ABC, and says it is "a little distressing" to experience the loss of a home first-hand.

"You have empathy and sympathy for people when you're interviewing them and you're seeing them losing their houses, but on the other side you suddenly realise what it's like to have that impact," he told AM.

"We've had a number of fires through here before, but this one was an extraordinary fire. Its speed was extraordinary. It just raced through this whole area, took out some houses, left other ones standing. 

"Our house is completely gutted. The fellow next door, his house is completely gone and yet in the driveway he had a Mustang and not a mark on it.


Ron Fuller

"There's not a tree with a bit of greenery on it, and this little car sitting in the middle of the driveway just survives."

He is grateful no-one in his street was injured in the blaze, and is already missing the "little things" destroyed by the fire.

"Your mind keeps remembering little things and you suddenly go 'oh that's gone, that's gone, oh I'm going to miss that'," he said.

"It's funny - for the last 24 hours there's just been this constant stream of little things coming into your mind. As you go through a room mentally 'oh that was there and that's gone' and it's quite draining, to be honest."

Mr Fuller says he will pick up the pieces and rebuild in the area.

"It's just trying to keep those day-to-day things going and thinking well, okay, you know, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get into it again," he said.

Firefighters drained pools to battle blaze

Mr Fuller, a Rural Fire Service volunteer, has also been involved in fighting the fires, and says it has been frustrating at times.

"Last night we were putting out spot fires all up and down the street," he said.

"There is basically no water though. We were draining swimming pools with tanks and it kept us going and we were able to save three or four houses down the bottom that would have gone as a result of houses basically exploding. 

"There were quite a few explosions last night so we are able to save those but it was a tough battle. The water pressure just wasn't there and that was the scary thing.

"You're standing there and you've got a hose in your hand and you know that the water is running out. It is very frustrating."

Topics: bushfire, fires, disasters-and-accidents, winmalee-2777, nsw, australia

First posted October 18, 2013 14:27:16