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Laura Roots feels very lucky to have escaped the bushfire in Upper Pappinbarra, along with her baby daughter, and her husband who saved their home.
Last Friday afternoon, a bushfire swept through their area, destroying three homes as well as sheds and outbuildings.
It's going to be a long time before I forget that roar.
- Laura Roots
Choking back tears, Laura said she got home with ten minutes to spare and saw flames licking over the ridge behind her neighbour, Adrian Guthrie's house. What happened next was terrifying.
Adrian lost his house, as did two other neighbours. Laura spent the time inside, playing games with her two-and-a-half year-old daughter, Phoebe, who, thankfully, didn't realise what was going on.
"All she wanted to do was go out and play with the trucks. She's a very resilient little girl. So many of our other neighbours have suffered so much. It's going to be a long time before I forget that roar. Those winds were ferocious," said Laura.
"The firies were busy saving everyone else. They didn't have time to come to us. My husband saved our home. If it wasn't for the landowners and their knowledge, Upper Pappinbarra would have been lost completely that night," she added.
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Letitia Fitzpatrick
Worked as a journalist and assistant producer for BBC news and current affairs in the UK, Ulster Television, Q Radio and the Irish News in Northern Ireland. Moved to Australia and joined Fairfax Media in 2016. Won a Rotary Paul Harris Fellowship award in 2018 for reporting the Pappinbarra bushfires and the subsequent Rotary appeal which raised $30,000.
Worked as a journalist and assistant producer for BBC news and current affairs in the UK, Ulster Television, Q Radio and the Irish News in Northern Ireland. Moved to Australia and joined Fairfax Media in 2016. Won a Rotary Paul Harris Fellowship award in 2018 for reporting the Pappinbarra bushfires and the subsequent Rotary appeal which raised $30,000.
