First responders to last year’s devastating Daylesford crash have been honoured one year after the horrific accident that claimed five lives on November 5, 2023.

Last Sunday, November 23 CFA dignitaries, including CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan and board member Rosemary Martin, presented the distinguished unit citation for service to the Daylesford, Hepburn, Franklinford, and Musk fire brigades during a commemoration service marking the tragedy’s first anniversary.

Nineteen members of the Daylesford Fire Brigade, nine from Hepburn, one from Franklinford, and one from Musk also each received Individual unit citations for service recognising their outstanding service.

“This award honours not only the bravery and professionalism of our CFA volunteers during such a harrowing event but also their unwavering commitment to their communities,” CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said.

“These volunteers worked under unimaginable conditions, demonstrating the very best of CFA’s values.

“This award is about appreciating the service of our members while also acknowledging the profound loss felt by the families and loved ones affected. We stand with you, as does this community.”

Daylesford Captain Glenn Webster, who also received a commendation for service alongside his citation, expressed immense pride in his fellow brigade members and the emergency responders who assisted.

“I’m in awe of what they did that day. They responded without hesitation and faced the most horrific scene you could imagine,” Mr Webster said.

“They worked professionally, did everything they could to assist the injured, and supported paramedics when they arrived. They were just outstanding.”

Reflecting on the wider impact, Mr Webster highlighted how the community rallied in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“On that terrible day one year ago, and in the days that followed, community was everything,” he said.

“They were fantastic – dropping off flowers to the brigade and even bringing meals on the night of the event because they knew we were exhausted.

“There was a great deal of kindness shown to us, and it’s a privilege to serve such a compassionate community.”

Turning his thoughts to the families impacted by the tragedy, Mr Webster offered a heartfelt message of support.

“They were not alone. They and you will forever remain a part of the extended family of this community.”

This story based on a media release from the CFA

Daylesford and Hepburn Shire are definitely open for business and open for visitors, Hepburn Shire Mayor Cr Brian Hood says. Cr Hood said in the aftermath of the (November 5, Daylesford) accident many traders were left wondering if they should close, remain closed or be open for visitors and the vital tourism trade.

“They were looking for guidance, because they didn’t want to be disrespectful, but straight away senior police and other experts said ‘no, you plough on and start to build a sense of normality’ and that gave traders the peace of mind to do that. We are hardly ever confronted with anything like this and there is no script to follow. But the message is we are open.” Cr Hood said the community was moving on but “slowly as you would expect”.

“The council’s primary concern at the time of the incident, and given our role, was one of the welfare of the community, our staff, volunteers and other organisations. Along with Central Highlands Rural Health we got counselling in place very quickly and the take-up rate was very strong.

“We are now continuing with the counselling but also doing operational things in the background and being very mindful of moving at the right sort of pace and taking on board the right sort of advice. We want to avoid any immediate kneejerk reactions.”

Cr Hood said with the reopening of the Royal Hotel, the outdoor tables had been moved slightly, and council was now looking at other outdoor dining areas across the shire. “We are breaking it down into immediate actions we can and should take, and what the longer-term actions are. So, we are not only looking at this particular site, but we are taking into account outdoor dining areas across the shire.

“No-one would have expected this sort of thing to happen at this site and outdoor dining is very popular throughout the shire,” Cr Hood said. “We, like many councils, and in line with state government guidelines, encouraged outdoor dining during and after Covid as part of economic recovery and also to give people some normality.

“Yes, it is council-owned land, but a valid permit was in place, and those tables had been there long before Covid and they stayed during and after Covid. They are the facts.” Cr Hood said while the police and Coroner’s Office investigations would take some time, the council would not wait to take any actions it believed were needed to improve safety throughout the shire.

“Obviously we will very much take on board whatever comes out of those two investigations, but in the meantime, we are talking about what we can do now.” Cr Hood said while some media reports had said locals had long been calling for safety improvements on Albert Street, calling it a “dangerous stretch of road”, in his three years with council he had never been made aware of any issues.

“You wouldn’t consider Albert Street a dangerous street. Unless they are mixing it up with Howe Street? But sometimes freak accidents do happen.” Cr Hood said the idea of a memorial for the site had been raised but would need careful consultation with the community. Cultural issues also had to be taken into account.

“The last thing we want to do is something wrong or inappropriate or that annoys a section of the community. The Dja Dja Wurrung have also said they could hold a smoking/cleansing ceremony but we haven’t made any decisions yet. We just need to move at a careful pace.”

Cr Hood also praised the first responders including Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria, the CFA and the SES, along with community members who “sprang into action”.

“To have four helicopters taking people to Melbourne and others on the road to Ballarat in 45 minutes, that was just brilliant. And we are mindful that the CFA and SES are staffed by locals and volunteers, and with the members of the community, they just all did as much as they possibly could with no hesitation. “Fortunately, we are a tight-knit, small community and when something like this happens, people get strength from each other.”

Words: Donna Kelly

“Absolutely no-one goes to the (police) academy and trains for something like that.” They are the words of Golden Plains Hepburn operations manager Senior Sergeant Simon Brand (pictured above) almost two weeks after the accident which rocked the Daylesford community.

But the two Daylesford police officers who were the first police to arrive on the scene are doing OK, he said. “The two members were at the station, which is so close you probably could have heard it (the accident) and they were aware of people running down the street to the station. They knew it was going to be pretty bad. They took off up the street and were confronted with the scene about six minutes after it happened.

“And while there is only so much two police officers can do there were off-duty paramedics and off-duty nurses and then people out of the Royal Hotel and the Daylesford Hotel, passersby, who just did everything they could, people with no medical training who had never been exposed to any sort of trauma, doing whatever they could.

“It was a fantastic community response and became a real team effort. It was impressive and the support this community has given those police since is just fantastic.

“I guess the other thing is that this was a busy Sunday afternoon in Daylesford, so it wasn’t just this community that was impacted, people from all walks of life then went to their homes in other parts of Victoria, and Australia and even internationally. The impact is widespread.”

Sen Sgt Brand said the Major Collision Investigation Unit had interviewed around 100 witnesses but if anyone had not yet talked to the police and felt they had something to share, they should contact Daylesford Police who would then pass that information on. “You can never say you have interviewed every witness. All of a sudden someone can come forward at a later date with a critical piece of information.”

Sen Sgt Brand said the two first responder police officers were linked into police welfare services, who along with a police psychologist, arrived on the Sunday night. “It is a small team here, a sergeant and six members, and they are all pretty close, but the surrounding stations of Trentham, Creswick and Clunes have also been very supportive.

“And they know they have many avenues to seek help if they need it, with the support of Central Highlands Rural Health and they also have very supportive and close families. So they are going OK at this time but we know that can change and will continue to provide support as it is needed.”

Sen Sgt Brand, whose role takes in 12 police stations from Hepburn, Golden Plains and Moorabool shires, said most of his work had come after the accident in supporting the police members, the emergency service departments and community mental health.

“From a Victoria Police point of view, we understand that it is a very traumatic experience for the community, very impactful, and we understand we need to provide support ongoing and that is going to be for months.

“And we really want to say how grateful we are for the support of Central Highlands Rural Health, Daylesford Hospital and the general community.”

Three days after the accident, the churches of Daylesford came together to hold a Community Memorial Service. “All Faith – No Faith – Everyone is Welcome.” About 220 people attended Christ
Church for the combined service of the Anglican Parish of Daylesford, St Peter’s Catholic Church Daylesford, the Daylesford Uniting Church and the Daylesford-Hepburn Springs Baptist Church.

Anglican minister Father Neil Fitzgerald said the service started with an Acknowledgement of Country and then each minister played a role. “We all came together for the last part, a hymm and then sang Over the Rainbow and it really felt like a big hug. It was lovely and the reaction from the congregation
was terrific.”

Fr Neil said he had been thinking on the Monday how a faith community could let people know they were there for them. “I rang Father Justin at the Catholic Church with the idea of the service and he said ‘yep’, and Lorelle at the Uniting Church was in. And then when I was doing a shift for the community chaplains, I met the Baptist pastor Ross’s wife and they were in.

“Alicia from Verey’s (Funeral) rang and said she was going to bring up a sound system because the church was going to be full and she was right. It was standing room only.” Fr Neil said there was just one hymn “because we didn’t want to over-church people, it was more about faith and the community and that is what people appreciated. We weren’t passing a collection plate around or asking for donations or saying come to church next Sunday. Afterwards people gathered out the front and said it was what they needed at the right time.”

Fr Neil said since the service many people had visited the church to chat about the accident, or what was happening in their lives or how they were trying to cope with numerous traumatic events. Others just wanted to sit in the silence of the church and meditate. And just this year Fr Neil had trained to be part of the Victorian Council of Churches’ emergency ministry team, so found himself doing four 4-hour shifts in the main street as a community chaplain.

“So my first call out was on the doorstep and I had two hats on, a community chaplain and the local vicar because people recognised me. We spoke to lots of businesses, just to make sure they were OK, and many said they appreciated the tourists being around and not staying away. And the tourists we spoke to said they were not sure if they should be here but we told them they were appreciated.

“A lot of people stopped us to say thanks for being here, or ask if they could talk to us, or just gave us a hug and burst into tears. “I was a bit fortunate because I was on the special assistance team for Qantas for 20 years so that came in handy knowing how to approach things. Still, it was pretty confronting here on your own doorstep.” Fr Neil said many in the community also said they felt they had a duty of care for those involved in the accident.

“They had come here to spend their money, enjoy a long weekend and people felt, not that they had let them down, but that they had a connection with them. They were a part of our family for that afternoon. A lot of people are still pretty raw about that.”

Fr Neil said he felt many people were slowly moving forward but the first responders were going to need a lot of counselling support – which is available for as long as it is needed. “I think my way of coping was organising the service. I had something to do. And the enthusiasm for it was just amazing.

“And a woman I met at the accident site was part of the Melbourne Sikh community and I asked her if it would appropriate for us to read a Sikh prayer in a church and she said absolutely and sent me one.

“It was great to be able to share something different and I have had a lot of people ask for a copy of that prayer.” Fr Neil said more combined services were being planned for Christmas including a Blue Service on Christmas Eve for those who had lost someone or had gone through trauma.

Words: Donna Kelly