Driving Through a Red Fire Zone

Australia is known for its bushfires and 2026 will go down as one of the worst.

We live in Melbourne but have a property in Mansfield – our happy place, where we plan to live when we retire. This beautiful thriving town is about two hours and forty-five minutes drive from home. A gateway to the high country, it boasts Mt Buller for skiing in winter, Lake Eildon for boating in summer, and mountains for bush walking, camping and four-wheel driving.

Our house sits about fifteen minutes out of Mansfield in Howes Creek on a hill overlooking Lake Eildon – a perfect writer’s retreat. One road leads in from town, and if we drive further away from Mansfield, we reach Goughs Bay then further on to Jamieson and the Great Dividing Range.

In 2020, we aborted our Mansfield summer stay after bush fires started to the north. Although we were far from danger, we didn’t want to get in the way of fire fighting efforts or risk being trapped.

The Vic Emergency App kept us informed. As the name suggests, this app issues alerts about emergencies in the state of Victoria. You can install a watch area to receive relevant alerts.

On New Year’s Eve 2024/25, a fire started in a forest across the lake from us. We could see the flames from our windows. We kept watch and monitored the app, ready to make a quick getaway. Thanks to the first-rate efforts of the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and other emergency services, the fire was contained. We stayed but remained alert.

Wednesday Jan 7 this year, at the start of a three-day heatwave, we spotted smoke in the distance across the lake. The app showed a fire in Longwood, an area west of our most direct route home along the Maroondah Hwy, east of our alternative route along the Hume. It seemed unwise to leave, as driving home meant passing closer to the fire. We hoped it would soon be contained like last time.

Thursday morning, the fire remained out of control and was growing fast. The Hume had been closed.

We were safe in Mansfield, but I hated feeling cut off from home and wanted to leave. A catastrophic fire danger warning had been issued for Friday, with forecast northerly winds and high temperatures. While we weren’t under direct threat from the Longwood fire, a fire could start anywhere, and with our route to Melbourne cut off, we’d be trapped.

Throughout Thursday, temperatures notched above 40C (104F). Burnt leaves fell from the sky. The erratic wind alternated between eerily still, and gusts up to 50 km/h. Spordic rain showers began, but before we could celebrate, they stopped. Thunder rumbled with disconcerting frequency, threatening lightning that could start another fire. I’d heard about fire-induced thunderstorms – pyrocumulonimbus clouds if you want the technical term – but never witnessed it. A terrifying self-perpetuating cycle.

The app issued an emergency warning, a red zone, which crossed the Maroondah Hwy around Yarck. The road wasn’t closed, but it seemed unwise to drive there when locals would be evacuating, and we risked driving through smoke and dangerous traffic conditions.

Our families begged us to leave, but which way to go? We had three options: drive through a red zone; deviate north and circle around the fires, taking 7-8 hours to get home; drive south through Jamison and 3 hours on through heavy and remote forest. We vetoed the last as too dangerous; a fire would rip through there too quickly to stop.

Most of our neighbours chose to stay. Mansfield township wasn’t under threat and they have a relief centre if it’s not safe out of town.

We waited.

One thing I’ve learnt about myself: under pressure, I prefer action to inaction. Sitting still sent my anxiety through the roof. We packed in preparation for leaving, even as we didn’t know where to drive. The fire expanded and wind shifts brought it closer to us. An orange zone ‘Watch and Act’ covered Bonnie Doon (of the movie The Castle fame) and almost reached our doorstep. We hoped Lake Eildon would stop the fire, but embers can travel far.

Andrew’s cousin has a place in Bonnie Doon, so we rang to check in. They’d left an hour earlier and had just driven through Yarck. After they assured us it was safe, we decided to follow them.

An hour later, we hit the road, prepared to turn back if asked or if it felt unsafe. Wind whipped the car with leaves as we headed towards the red zone. We informed family and neighbours of our progress. I had my phone in hand as Andrew drove, checking the app for updates.

I’m happy to say, we saw barely any smoke, not a glimpse of flames, and we made it through with no dramas.

This taught me a lesson about how to better use the app. The red zone alone doesn’t mean you can’t pass through. To see the fire location, you can click on the filter button and select ‘impact areas’. A shaded grey area surrounded by a black line will appear. A road in a red zone could be safe if well clear of the impact area and not closed by authorities. I’d still avoid it if possible, but if it leads to a better outcome overall, it’s worth staying vigilant and moving through. Note the impact zone can change faster than they can update the app, so best to assume a wider berth.

As we reached Yea, clear of the red zone, our neighbours told us a power outage had hit Howes Creek. This isn’t unusual, so most of us have generators, and they kept their ACs running. Still, I was relieved to be out of there. Power resumed later that night.

We are lucky in so many ways: we are safe, we had somewhere to go, and even if we lost everything at Mansfield, it is our holiday home. Others have lost their homes and their livelihoods – farms, wineries, shops. Devastating.

On Friday, the catastrophic day, the fire gained further ground, but our fire fighters were beyond amazing. They protected towns such as Yea and Merton. Fire nearly encircled Alexandra, but the town centre remains unscathed, including the hospital and other key facilities. No lives have been lost to fire, although one man was found by emergency crews, believed to have died from other causes. (Sad update Sunday afternoon: one man has been found deceased, away from his car. My heart breaks for him and his loved ones.)

Today is Sunday, and Bonnie Doon is safe so far, but the danger isn’t over, with temperatures into the 30s in the next few days and constant wind changes posing fresh challenges.

Fires will continue burning for about three weeks before they are fully extinguished. Damage will be assessed and some families will return to a world flattened by fire.