Dinah Huyskens feeds some of the miniature ponies who sought refuge at her Pakenham South farm. 27221
By Ben Hope
AFTER witnessing the devastation of the 2009 bushfires first-hand as a CFA volunteer, Dinah Huyskens is now ready to fight fires as a fully-fledged CFA member.
During the 2009 bushfires Mrs Huyskens volunteered with the CFA in Bayles, helping to co-ordinate work parties and making sure supplies were getting where they were needed.
“After driving out to many properties immediately after the fires and seeing how many people were badly affected, I wanted to be ready to fight the fires myself this year,” Mrs Huyskens said.
Not content to only help the human victims of the tragedy, during the 2009 fires Mrs Huyskens also put out the call to horse owners with an offer to accommodate their animals while the fire danger was high.
She ended up taking on more than 20 horses on her 125-acre ex-dairy farm in Pakenham South.
Eight of the horses belonged to a friend from Narbethong whose home was completely burnt out.
“The horses were burnt but not too badly and we were able to care for them,” she said.
“However, one of the mares was pregnant at the time of the fires and began having complications from the stress. Her foal was later stillborn.”
The owner of the eight horses, a close friend of Mrs Huyskens who has now relocated to Tasmania, collected her horses just before Christmas.
“She couldn’t go back to Narbethong. She lost everything and was nervous about buying anywhere else in Victoria so she went to Tasmania,” Mrs Huyskens said.
“She also lost her job in Marysville after it was burnt and I know she has found it really hard getting back on her feet.”
Mrs Huyskens also took on about 15 miniature horses from Gembrook after their owner was afraid she wouldn’t be able to get them out in time in the case of a fire.
“We looked after the ponies for about six to eight weeks but luckily they could return home once the danger was over as their property was still intact,” Mrs Huyskens said.
