Community
12 February, 2026
BlazeAid building back up in Harcourt
“I’ve loved being able to help at Harcourt,” St Arnaud volunteer Karina Bird-Polkinghorne said.
BLAZEAID volunteers from across the state have come together to help rebuild Harcourt.
Workers from St Arnaud, Horsham, Bendigo and Melbourne (and more) braved the heat on Friday and Saturday last week to help farmers with fencing around their properties.
Landowner Steve Barnett said he couldn’t do anything more than watch the fence posts burn after he fought hard to save his home in Harcourt on January 8.
“I was one of the lucky ones, but it still takes its toll,” he said.
“I’m lucky I had the ability to stay and use my old fire truck to fight the fire.
“But even in the aftermath, it hurts to look out and see what’s happened to your neighbours and friends across the way.”
Thankfully, shorter grass on his property meant it was a lot easier to keep the fire at bay, but the feed on his little farm would take a long time to recover.
“We have a little flock of sheep and a few alpacas, they’ll need to be hand-fed until we get the feed back and growing again,” he said.
“We know we’re lucky, we haven’t lost acres of crops.”
Mr Barnett said it was at an information centre that he found out that BlazeAid would be able to help out on his property.
“These guys do such a good job to help out, it means the world to know people haven’t forgotten about us,” he said.
BlazeAid was established in 2009 by Kevin and Rhonda Butler after the Black Saturday bushfire after they had approximately three kilometres of fencing burnt on their property.
It was Mrs Butler’s idea to pay the favour forward, saying, “We have had help, now let’s give our neighbours a hand too.”
St Arnaud volunteer Karina Bird-Polkinghorne said it was an honour to be part of such a great group of volunteers.
“I’ve loved being able to help at Harcourt,” she said.
The camp for volunteers has been booked at Harcourt until at least April, so there is still time to lend a hand.
Head to the BlazeAid website to express your interest and let them know where you can help.
Read More: St Arnaud