Matt Fowles’ family-owned winery gone within an hour
Matt Fowles fought desperately to save his home and vineyard on Thursday with the help of a CFA officer and a friend, but now there is little left.
The Longwood fire hit the award-winning, family-owned Fowles Wines outside Avenel in Melbourne’s north at 9.15am on Thursday. Just 45 minutes later, all that was left was a moonscape of scorched vines, razed houses and dead sheep.
Winemaker Matt Fowles says there’s not a blade of grass left on his property that hasn’t been burned.Credit: Matt Fowles
Nearly 300 acres of grape vines were destroyed, hundreds of sheep were killed, and the homes of Fowles’ uncle and neighbors were destroyed.
“It continued at 9.30am and created pressure on the house, smoke, heavy smoke and then at 9.45am the whole house [property] Fowles “was on fire” Friday morning, he said.
Fowles managed to save his house, but his ivy was gone.Credit: Matt Fowles
“My whole garden was on fire and we were just able to save the house. We lost everything at another property about five kilometers down the road. We lost the house and four sheds. This was the house my uncle lived in and he chose to leave the day before, which was obviously a very good thing.”
“I’m aware of two other houses that have disappeared, and I know on my other border to the north there’s a house that has disappeared there, which just shows how amazing it is that we’ve managed to hold on to ours.”
At 10 a.m. on Thursday morning, a shocked Fowles began sweeping floors and assessing the damage, and worked until midnight to secure the remaining buildings; Until the winds increased again and left behind 300 acres of parched vines, 1500 acres of burnt pastures and hundreds of dead sheep.
“I thought, ‘God, I can be content with what’s going to happen,’ and it scared me, so I got out of there,” the winemaker said.
