Springbank - 7. Spring Ch 7

“Don’t forget I am heading to the estate tomorrow after the morning lecture, and I should be home in time for dinner if all goes well,” I said to Mum as I put my breakfast dishes in the dishwasher and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Yes, I did remember, is anyone going with you?” Mum asked me, “Yes, you know how we have the Canadian Ambassador coming up to the estate on Saturday, well I know his son from University, and he is coming with me today to check it out ahead of the weekend,” I said in response, “That is nice that you are making new friends,” Mum said to me as I waved goodbye, grabbed my backpack and laptop case and headed outside to my vehicle.

After the usual lecture, I headed to the carpark, where I found a smiling Jasper waiting for me, and he was holding a small bag plus he had a backpack on his back. “Hey friend, how was your early morning lecture?” he asked me, as I approached and shook his hand, “Good mate, what’s with the extra luggage?” I responded, “Well, I don’t have a lecture until 10 am tomorrow, so I am hoping that you too have a later lecture, and we can stay overnight at the estate if there is accommodation available,” Jasper replied.

I smiled at this, as I always carry an overnight bag in my Jeep for that very reason. “Sounds good, I just have to telephone the Estate manager to let him know, “ I replied just as my mobile rang and I frowned when I saw that the Caller ID was Davies. “Hello mate, I was just about to call you,” I said answering the call. “Fire on the estate, emergency services have been called,” Davies said to me. “Oh bugga, any idea how it started?” I responded as I signalled for Jasper to get into my Jeep just as I unlocked it.

“Yeah, I do… a certain someone who has been evicted from your property. I will see you when you get here,” Davies said before ending the call. “Damn, that man is a real pain in the butt, we have to go… there is a fire on the estate,” I said to Jasper as I pocketed my mobile and started up the engine. The journey usually takes an hour and a quarter from the University to Springbank, but I managed to cut twenty minutes off the journey, with the assistance of a heavy foot, and when we arrived at the front gate, there were small wisps of smoke around, which meant the fire was mostly out and no longer a threat.

We found Davies at the main machinery shed, where there were two local fire brigade trucks parked. “Hello sir, this is the Fire Controller Andrea Martin of the Julimar Bush Fire Brigade, which is based just three kilometres away. Andrea, this is the estate owner, Mr Cooper Hudson,” Davies said making the introductions. “Hello, nice to meet you, this is my good friend and fellow University classmate Jasper Wright,” I said introducing Jasper. “Any relation to…” Davies asked me not finishing the question, “Yes, his son, come to check out the place a few days early,” I replied as Davies and Jasper shook hands.

“Right now, regarding this fire, it started on the other side of the river as you may have already guessed, just west of the machinery shed, and with the south-east winds it had soon jumped the river. Thankfully the railway line prevented the fire from burning any other farmland on that side of the river, but it did completely burn out the Avon Descent Campsite. In regards to the estate, the fire has been contained to just the bushland opposite Cobblers Pool, which I estimate to be around 300 acres, plus a strip of bush between Cobbler Pool Road and the river on the south side as far down as Possetts Ford, totalling another 65 acres,” Davies said to me.

“Has the board of the Avon Descent been notified?” I asked, “The police are doing that as we speak sir,” Anita responded, “Ok, I need to speak to them, so we can make some arrangements for this weekend, can you ask them to meet me in Toodyay in say an hour, maybe ask the shire if there is space where we can meet,” I asked her, “The town hall has a meeting room that is usually available during the week,” Anita replied and I nodded my head, as she pulled out her mobile and dialled a number as she walked away a short distance.

“Ok, so what about you know who, what has happened with him?” I asked, “The police are questioning him now, but it looks like it was accidentally started. Mr Pellini had a stack of hay rolls behind the machinery shed, which he was loading up onto his truck for transport from the property when the truck backfired and set some of the hay alight, and with the strong winds it took off very quickly and his fire unit was already off the property, so it took us and the fire brigade a while to start attacking the fire, which missed the Watch Tower by only a few hundred metres,” Davies said to me. “That is very good to hear,” I replied.

After thanking the firefighters and giving the brigade a sizeable donation, they set off with Giles escorting them, to let them through the front gate, and we followed them out as I wanted to head into Toodyay and out to Cobblers Pool to inspect the fire damage, before meeting the Avon Descent board members, with just three days to go before the big event.

Using hands-free on my mobile I made a few calls while driving into town, with Jasper typing out some notes on his laptop computer, which he had quickly started up. When we arrived at my property next door to the Cobblers Pool Campground, we could see a lot of fire damage, as we turned onto the driveway and crossed over the railway line crossing. All the pasture in the paddock between the river and the railway line was now just black, as we turned right to follow the farm access road, which thankfully was kept in good condition, and was recently upgraded, with a new layer of gravel and compacted down.

As the road turned left as we approached the shed, the burnt area stopped, and we saw that the machinery shed was entirely emptied of everything that was there before, which I was glad to see as I stopped in front of it and climbed out of the vehicle. “This is good, we can use this space, looks to be about thirty metres long and ten metres wide, we will need some crushed blue metal for inside and in front of the shed so no one gets bogged, plus some more on the righthand side of driveway just inside the gate, so we can put a transportable there also,” I said as we wandered around the shed, before returning to the Jeep and continuing along the driveway.

Jasper made some notes on his laptop, as soon as he was back in the vehicle, while I drove on and around, where the driveway was now right alongside the river, and I stopped about halfway along and climbed out again, while Jasper remained inside, as it began to drizzle with rain again, as it has been doing most of the day down in the city. I walked along the riverbank as far as the house, which looked to be in good order.

Although the door was closed it was unlocked and I walked inside to find a very empty and spotlessly clean house, which I was very pleased to see. Looking in the kitchen drawers, I found two sets of house keys, which I picked up and after locking up the house I returned to the vehicle. “Time to head into town for this meeting. Now that I have had a good look around, I have a few ideas to put to the board to rescue this situation,” I said to Jasper who smiled and nodded his head.

When we arrived at the Town Hall, we saw some sort of function happening there, so I was not sure what to do now when a lady rushed towards us. “Mr Cooper Hudson?” she called out to me, and I looked in her direction, seeing a well-dressed and groomed young lady approaching. “Hi, my name is Heather, I am the secretary of the Avon Descent Management Board, the others are scattered around the district and some are in the Perth Hills, so it will be just me and Jason, who will be here in a few moments,” she said to me.

“Hello, yes I am Cooper, this is my University buddy Jasper who travelled up from Perth with me earlier today. We have been out to our property to inspect the fire damage. According to the Julimar Bush Fire Brigade, the fire was accidental, due to a truck backfiring on a block of land that I own but has been leased out. Half of that block of land, plus all of the paddock where the Avon Descent Campsite is located is all burnt, along with some river bush reserve as far down as Posettes Ford, and some bushland on my property on the north side of the river.

Because of this fire damage, and with just a few days until the big event, I am prepared to offer the use of the block of land that isn’t burnt out, which includes a large machinery shed, which is about 6 hectares or 15 acres of land for the campsite. The only condition that I have is that the site is for Avon Descent officials, competitors and their crew only, so no public camping at all, and there will be no open campfires permitted on the property. I am prepared to organise ablution facilities for those who will be staying on-site, and if you already have some catering groups coming, they too will be permitted to enter and set up, I would prefer them to be community-based groups, if possible.

All I need is the agreement that you accept this offer and I will get to work to get everything set up in time for the gates to open at 4 pm on Friday, but I must insist that security on the property be kept tight, and I am willing to donate money to the State Emergency Service if they wish to provide the manpower to do this,” I stated. “I heard most of what you said young man, and it all sounds acceptable. I am presuming you are Mr Hudson. My name is Jason, the Race Director and Deputy Chairman of the Board,” a middle-aged gentleman said as he approached.

“May I suggest that we head down to Cobbler Pool to discuss the logistics of what I have in mind,” I suggested, which was agreed on by the two Avon Descent Board members. Just over fifteen minutes later, we entered the property which is next door to the main campsite, and the other vehicle followed as we drove along the road and stopped in front of the machinery shed.

“I thought we could place a small transportable just inside the gate back there, to accommodate those who will be guarding the gate and patrolling the property. It will have a bathroom, kitchenette and a lounge/dining area for those assigned to those duties. The house where we will see shortly is currently empty and unfurnished, but I will organise some furniture for the Avon Support Unit, so they can use that as their base for relaxing, dining and meetings.

Here at the shed, I was thinking that it would be ideal for some community groups to set up their vans to serve food, where it is undercover and out of the weather, and include dining tables for the competitors and their crew to eat and relax. If you can organise the community groups to provide the food trucks and vans, I will organise the power, water and lighting for the shed, as well as ablution facilities for everyone that will be staying onsite,” I said.

“Do you think that is possible in such a short period? We only have just over two days before the event officially starts with the Avon Festival in Northam?” Jason asked me, “It will be done, just let all of your competitors know the change of circumstances, and maybe use the media to advertise that there will be no public access to the new campsite this year,” I responded before we walked about sixty metres to the edge of the river and twenty metres upstream, which was high and flowing very strongly and this is where I stopped. “This is a good spot here for extracting boats from the water, but I think the official finish/start line should be 70 metres upstream, almost opposite the house.

I will be able to assist with getting the finish/start line across the river, and have a platform erected for the officials. So, are you in agreement with all of this?” I said to the two race board members. “I guess we don’t have a choice do we, and we are very grateful for your assistance to allow for this race to continue,” Heather said, and I saw Jason nod in agreement. “Good, now if you will excuse me, my colleague and I have a heck of a lot of work to do,” I stated as I retrieved my mobile and dialled a number.

“Davies, I need all estate staff over here on the south side now, as we are offering assistance to keep this Avon Descent operational this weekend,” I said when the call was answered. “Yes, we are using this block to accommodate the officials, competitors and their crew for the event, but no public access. Let your wife remain behind to mind your little ones, and maybe she can feed us while we are busy,” I said in response to Davies’ question. After I ended that call, I looked at Jasper, well it looks like we are certainly staying overnight now,” I said to him.

“Just let me know how I can help and I will do my very best,” Jasper replied, “Thanks mate, if you can start by getting back onto the phone with Heather, this is her mobile number, and coordinate with her regarding all the catering, while I get organised with some of the temporary buildings that we need, but we need a place to sit down to do this, so let’s head back into town,” I said to him as I handed him the business card that Heather had given me just a few minutes earlier before she left.

Parked outside one of the hotels, I asked the manager if I could use the dining room or a quiet place to work on the Avon Descent recovery project as I named it, and we were shown to a meeting room just off the dining room, which has two large tables, half a dozen chairs, and before entering we ordered some food and soft drinks. Ten minutes later Heather entered the room before she too set up her laptop computer and began working on preparations.

Within half an hour, we had two representatives from the Shire Council, a senior official from the Wheatbelt District of the State Emergency Service, also the Police District Commander from Northam, and the room now had two whiteboards full of information for reference, and one other with a topographical map of the Julimar district of the Toodyay Shire, and there was also two printers, and a small urn of hot water with a selection of beverages, as well as some food and snacks provided by the hotel which I paid for.

After contacting just about every building company that builds modular transportable buildings, I managed to organise two expandable 20-foot-long container buildings also a 20-foot-long standard modular building, and a ten-foot standard modular building, that would all be delivered tomorrow early afternoon, as well as five ablution blocks that are 6 x 2.4 metres in size, with each one having two sections, one for females has four toilets and two hand basins, while the males section has two toilets, two hand basins and two urinals, which include a raised base, steps to the doors, a sewerage waste storage tank underneath each one and a water tank behind them.

I also managed to arrange for two twin-section toilets that have one toilet and one hand sink in each section, all of which will be delivered tomorrow morning and I already had a good idea where I wanted to place each item, with the assistance of a topographical map of just the property, I was able to make where I wanted each building to be placed. I had also contacted the local stone quarry and asked them to urgently deliver a large amount of crushed blue metal, to ensure a firm base for all of the buildings.

Davies, Kurt and Joe called into the temporary base office, and I gave them instructions on what I needed to be done on the property before the trucks from the quarry began to arrive, with a quick stop at the local hardware store to purchase some steel pickets and fluro marker tape, so they could mark out the locations of all the buildings that are about to arrive tomorrow, as well as improving the access tracks.