Half a century may have passed but Victorian firefighter Terry Hedt can still vividly remember the Princes Highway strewn with bodies following a devastating bushfire.
On January 8 1969, the Little River Country Fire Authority captain attended the scene at Lara to find 17 motorists dead.
"Just people lying on the roads, cars with doors open. It's a bit hard, you know, bringing it all back," he told reporters on Sunday.
Fifty years ago on Tuesday, more than 200 bushfires burned across the state, leaving a total of 21 people dead and hundreds injured.
More than 250,000 hectares, 230 houses and 12,000-plus head of livestock were destroyed in the fires with some of the most serious blazes in Lara, Daylesford, Yea and Kangaroo Flat.
Eighteen people died in Lara, including the 17 motorists on the Princes Highway as they left their cars in dense smoke and tried to flee on foot.
At the time, it was believed safer to run away rather than stay inside a car during a fire.
CFA chief officer Steve Warrington said the devastating effect of the fire served as a tragic but valuable lesson for authorities: motorists are now advised to stay inside their cars during a fire.
"This was a fundamental shift in fire safety that has saved many lives in the past half century," he said.
Mr Warrington and Mr Hedt joined Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville, firefighters and survivors at a memorial service to pay tribute to victims on Sunday.
