As the bushfire threat in Victoria eases, residents and business owners in Harcourt return to see the impact.
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Jess and John Bell, two Harcourt residents and CFA volunteers, say they were fortunate their home wasn’t one of 51 houses destroyed by the Ravenswood and Harcourt fires. ‘We were very lucky the Castlemaine captain managed to get the bobcat … and he sort of cut in a containment line around the back here, and we think that’s saved a lot of the property.’ Businesses in town were not so fortunate, with Coolstore cafe owners Remy and Bonnie Sowman returning from Woodend to find their business destroyed. ‘It doesn’t feel real,’ Bonnie Sowman says. ‘Remy said yesterday, just go get the Starlink from the cafe and we’ll hook it up at home. Then we looked at each other, and like, it’s gone’
‘You can’t replace time’: Harcourt’s wine and beer producers mourn loss of industry’s heart in Victoria bushfires ► https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jan/12/you-cant-replace-time-harcourts-wine-and-beer-producers-mourn-loss-of-industrys-heart-in-victoria-bushfires
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