2026 longwood fires
When the Longwood Fire burned through almost 140,000 hectares of central Victoria, the destruction extended far beyond 193 homes and farmland. Native wildlife were left injured, displaced, and struggling to survive in the fire-scarred landscape.
For the volunteers at Murrindindi Ranges Wildlife Shelter, the fire meant long days — and even longer nights — rescuing and treating injured animals.
The Murrindindi Ranges Wildlife Shelter is based in the Murrindindi Shire and is specifically set up to care for injured adult macropods and with a fully equipped vet room the shelter is able to offer more than most. The Shelter was put to the test, calling on past vet students, now new grad vets to aid in the treatment of the dozens of burnt wildlife that were brought in. Local vets also stepped up to help and classmates of the new grads, human nurses also pitched in. Having at times 6 trained professionals doing bandages allowed me (a veterinary technician) to travel up to the fireground to assist the rescuers on the ground to triage, stabilise patients and start treatments. Putting wet bandages on before leaving the fairgrounds helped immensely back at the shelter.
One particularly hard day, I posted to facebook and I think it captured what the days were like:
“This morning I woke up but didn’t want to get out of bed. Everything hurt. Literally breathing hurt. But vets had arrived and they needed me to handle the roos. The joeys wanted their bottles. Stuff had to get done.”
As injured kangaroos continued to arrive at the shelter, the work barely slowed.
“The day went. More roos arrived… the vets left. And I was still bandaging.”
Late that day another call came in about a burnt kangaroo. Although the first animal could not be found, the search led to another injured roo struggling behind fences in a paddock.
“U-turn, pull over, get the gear out and army crawl under the first fence… I approached again clucking. So much clucking… I was right in front when I placed the net on him.”
The rescue was far from glamorous.
“It wasn’t graceful. It wasn’t a photo-worthy hero shot. It was slow and painful. But I got him back to the car.”
Once secured, the kangaroo was treated immediately with fluids therapy and wet bandages to cool and soften his badly burned feet.
Much of this work is made possible by the shelter’s specialised wildlife rescue vehicle, the ROOBULANCE, which allowed me to reach injured animals quickly across large rural areas, provide initial first aid and transport them safely back for further treatment and rehabilitation.
The shelter operates entirely through volunteers and is often stretched to capacity, particularly during disasters.
“Our shelter is full of wild animals who are prone to stress related illnesses… The need is there all year around — just fires and floods bring it into the spotlight.”
While bushfires capture public attention, the pressures never truly stop. Injuries from vehicles, fences, domestic animals, and habitat loss continue year-round.
For Murrindindi Ranges Wildlife Shelter, the Longwood fire was just one chapter in an ongoing mission: rescuing injured wildlife, rehabilitating them, and giving them the chance to return to the wild — even when the work is exhausting, painful, and far from easy.