More than six months after a patch of peat on Charlie Seehusen's Sarsfield farm caught fire, remediation works are still underway.
Peat, which is a precursor to coal, is prolific on the flats of Mr Seehusen's farm in East Gippsland, and it took many weeks to extinguish the fire.
Because peat fires burn underground, excavators were called in to help drain the flooded land.
Scars of the summer's bushfires are evident on Mr Seehusen's property, which is surrounded by charred bush.
Not the first time
This was not Mr Seehusen's first bushfire.
Forest Fire Management Victoria estimated more than 60 buildings and 4,000 stock were destroyed in fires that burned from February 21 to March 13 in 1965.
"I remember it quite clearly," Mr Seehusen said.
"The fires came through then, and back then there were seven houses, halls, the church got burned, the old bridge caught fire at Sarsfield over the Nicholson River.
"It was terrible because you were sitting there watching all these houses burn and we were only kids.I was nine but I still remember it very clearly.
"All these spot fires getting into houses and them burning up. It's not a good thing to see when you're a kid."
Peat remediation continues
Today, the scars from the bushfires at Sarsfield are clear.
The peat fire on Mr Seehusen's farm surrounded a major pipeline which carries gas to Sydney.
"The peat fire was very hot," he said.
"Down there in some parts it got to 800 degrees [Celsius], but most of it was 300–400 degrees, which is still damn hot.
"[The pipeline] can take 400 degrees, so naturally they were really concerned.
Extensive earthworks were carried out in attempt to dig trenches which could be flooded with water in a bid to extinguish the peat fire.
"When peat does burn, it'll sink. After a period of time, after the fire has gone through those hot spots can drop about a metre and you're left with big holes and a headache."
Mr Seehusen said remediating his paddocks had been a "real problem".
"We've had rain, so the holes are now all full of water and we've got to drain it out," he said.
"Then we'll have to get tonnes and tonnes of dirt and back fill it."
Mr Seehusen expected the remediation work could take more than a year.
