The fire started at 12.30pm on February 7, when strong winds blew over a power pole at Remlaw, west of the city. The fire first went south-west and then south-east, across the Wimmera Highway and Wimmera River to the Horsham Golf Course and then to Haven, south of the city. Firemen were able to save the general store, town hall and school at Haven, though flames came within metres of those buildings. Winds of up to changed direction three times during the day, and caused conditions described by a CFA fireman as the worst he had ever seen. A taxi driver picked up an 82-year-old wheelchair-bound woman and her daughter, from her house as the fire was no more than away; the house was alight as the taxi drove off, and burned down within minutes.