Highlights
- The week-long blaze has impacted farmers in Swan Valley
- Perth farmer Ken feared for their lives and their livelihood
- She is calling out for help from Filipino communities to visit their vineyard and go picking
Ken Barrios of Millendon in Perth breathed a sigh of relief seeing rain poured from the sky, a day after the lockdown is lifted.
Weekend rain helped firefighters get on top of the week-long blaze.
“Sobrang pasalamat namin dahil umulan,” she shares.
The 6.1 acre vineyard in Swan Valley that she’s looking after is sitting only 3 kilometres away from the bushfire.
“Covered kami ng usok, tapos mainit at naamoy mo talaga yung sunog.”
“Included yung area namin sa Millendon sa red warning and yung mga tao doon ay for evacuation na.”
Fear of losing their livelihood
The fire had destroyed at least 86 homes and burned almost 11,000 hectares in total.
Ken feared for their lives and everything in the farm including the animals and 2,500 grape vines they planted. Luckily, Australian firefighters have managed to contain most of the blaze.
“Hindi ko alam kung anong gagawin ko. Natataranta ako, hindi ko alam ang uunahin ko. Tapos iniisip ko na parang ayokong iwan yung farm kasi hindi ko matatanggap kung may mangyari doon.”
The downgrading from an emergency warning to a watch and act alert occurred on Saturday, one day after WA government lifted the five-day snap lockdown imposed on Perth and surrounding areas.
Their vineyard took a hit
Perth and surrounding areas were put in lockdown after the first new local COVID-19 case was diagnosed on Sunday after months without a single infection in the state.
Premiere Mark McGowan and Health Minister Roger Cook urged Western Australians to get back out and support local businesses and cafes.
It was a great news for Ken and other business owners in their community. However, she knew that it will take time for their livelihood to recover.
“Five days straight na wala kaming customer kaya sinarado namin yung buong vineyard tapos may bushfire kaya siguro yung mga tao ngayon natatakot pa pumunta.
Kahapon binuksan ulit naming yung farm pero kumpara sa naging visitors noon, ngayon ay nasa 30per cent lang.”
Ready for harvesting
Almost all the grapes from their vineyard are ready for harvesting. It will only take 2-3weeks before the berries are gone to waste.
Ken is now calling out for help from the Filipino communities in their area to visit the vineyard and go picking.
“Ginamit namin yung five days na yun to clean the vineyard. Na-surprise kami dahil sa dami pa ng dapat pitasin. Ang pinaka-sad na pwedeng mangyari is malalanta na lang yung ubas sa puno."
"Plus ngayon umuulan pa, yung ibang berries doon ay nakain na ng ibon or insects so dahil sa ulan possible na malanta din yung buong bunches. Kung hindi pa sila ma-pick, possible na masayang na talaga.”
Meanwhile, many communities are doing relief operations to help the victims of the devastating blaze.
Philippine Consulate in Perth is extending assistance to all the Filipino-Australians affected by the bushfires by calling 0408 301 038.
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