THE recent Grampians fires impacted Grampians Tourism’s Marc Sleeman on two fronts as the chief executive of the organisation and a resident of Pomonal.

Mr Sleeman evacuated his family early Tuesday morning.

“We enacted our fire safety plan, and I got my family out of their early,” he said.

“I stayed back at our property - we weren’t sure if there was going to be a fire - but once the Vic Emergency app started going off, things changed.

“The fire started directly adjacent to our property in the National Park.

“I was able to monitor it over a three to four-hour period but then the wind intensified, and it took off.

“There were several water bombers attacking the fire, but it was pretty clear nothing was (having an impact).

“As soon as the winds turned - I knew Pomonal was in trouble and I left about 3pm - I put the trailer on and got out of there.”

In a post to Facebook on Tuesday afternoon, he said “all safe in Stawell now but one of the fires in Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park is located near our property in Pomonal and I’ve just left as the wind has changed to a south westerly direction and is not looking good for our small community. Stay safe”.

It wasn’t until Thursday that Mr Sleeman was notified that his house had been saved.

“We were one of the lucky ones,” he said.

“We got into the house at Pomonal last night (Thursday) and we’re still assessing the damage.”

Mr Sleeman lost a shed and a boat.

“That was only due to the tenacity of the volunteers - they were at our house three times - it was their actions that saved our property.

“Our community is indebted to the CFA and firefighters - it is just amazing how people step up when the community needs them.”

Mr Sleeman said yesterday the loss of a number of houses and the impact on business in Pomonal was devastating.

“It’s not great in Pomonal at the moment,” he said.

“We’re all still coming to terms with the loss.

“The community has been significantly impacted - the loss of houses is just shocking - when you add the effect of (the loss of) wildlife and animals.

“We are just assessing the impact on the community - once we understand the needs of the community we can start looking forward.

“Lots of businesses have been impacted - but we’ll be talking with the State Government tomorrow (Saturday) and Visit Victoria - and then we’ll form a plan of action making sure our key target markets know our regions are still open.

“We need you now more than ever (so) please come and support us.”

Mr Sleeman said the community had received offers of support from local government as well.

“Southern Grampians chief executive, Tony Doyle offered to come and help clean up and get involved.

“He’s on the Grampians Tourism board – we’ve had a lot of messages from all the CEOs and State Government reps offering help - it’s just great to know you have got the backing of your broader community as well.”