"I couldn’t move… I was frozen in time."

For Leshya Perkins, the 'day out of hell' arrived on 4 December, 2025.

Standing just 400 metres away, she was transfixed as a 370-hectare fire tore through Henley Ridge at Markwood, claiming her mudbrick home and everything near and dear to her.

But months after the flames were extinguished, a second disaster is proving just as devastating.

Leshya has been told she is ineligible for government support afforded to victims of larger blazes across Victoria in January this year.

Now, the 71-year-old pensioner is facing a “crippling” $20,000 bill for the excavation of her former life - a debt she has no way to pay.

“If 10 or 15 houses had burnt down on Henly Ridge, it would've been a different outcome with government assistance, but because only two houses burnt down, it’s like we don’t count, we don’t matter,” Leshya said.

“I’m hurting too, the same as my neighbour who also lost her house.

“Just like our friends at Longwood and Walwa and all others who lost their homes, we feel the same agony.”

On a warm March morning, Leshya, who is now living at a cottage at a nearby Markwood property, returned to her former home.

The Yarrabee Road property was part of an extensive wildlife and wildflower refuge, regularly frequented by echidnas, wallabies, possums and birdlife.

It was also a hotspot for 21 different native orchid species, perfect for a wild orchid photographer of the past 17 years.

Before the flames swamped in on her property, Leshya fled carrying nothing but her beloved Australian Silky Terriers Mishka and Ralph.

She ran down a hill she traditionally ventured to collect firewood at the back of her home.

As the small terriers were walked down the dirt driveway for the first time since their home was destroyed, there was a sense of unfamiliarity among them, as Ralph barked towards the now empty lot.

“This is alien to them, it just looks all wrong,” Leshya said.

“Without my dogs it would have been so much harder.”

On the day of the fire, Leshya said the fate of the entire Henley Ridge estate was literally in the wind.

From what started on the side of Snow Road spread rapidly towards the estate.

After walking away from her home and stopping in a clearing near one of her neighbour’s properties, Leshya said she thought her home may have been safe as the blaze was pushing away from her house, towards Bobinawarrah.

But she said a wind change, with the velocity that almost swept her off her feet, turned the fire around.

“It was so strong, and I saw the fire go towards my neighbour’s house, and then from there I knew my house was next,” she said.

“So I watched my house burn down…. I was transfixed.”

After watching her home turn to ashes, Leshya fled with her neighbours to find refuge in Whorouly.

Along with the homes lost, a shed, vintage cars, parts of another house, fencing and grassland experienced significant damages within the area.

Some 250 firefighters battled the blaze at its peak, saving about 10 properties in direct line of the fire within difficult and steep bush terrain.

As she attempts to rebuild her life, Leshya said it has been the sentimental things she remembers losing to the flames which are like a “punch in the belly” for her.

Everything from grandma’s old recipes, artwork, electronics, cameras and more than 30,000 photos which included albums from her parents and grandparents’ weddings.

As for the rest of the Henley Ridge community, Leshya said they were shaken to pieces, with many still feeling the trauma of the fire.

But in tough times communities rally, and a GoFundMe donation page helped raise $14,000, of which a majority went to Leshya and her neighbour.

Unfortunately for Leshya, such generosity cannot bridge the void of other assistance for her financial loss.

She had been unable to get her home insured because of the use of home-made mudbricks in its construction, and there has been no government assistance available.

While the January fires placed Victoria into a State of Disaster - with fire affected residents in 24 local government areas eligible to access grants, loans and support through the federal government’s $100 million Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements relief package - the Rural City of Wangaratta was not included in the eligibility criteria.

Leshya said on top of the trauma and anguish of the fire, the lack of government help has left her distressed and discounted.

“I would like to say to Jacinta Allan, please have a heart,” she said.

“The relentless expenses for a person who has lost every single thing is exorbitant; the excavation costs are crippling for one who’s only income is an old age pension.

"The fire was of no fault of mine, yet I'm without a home or any financial assistance.

“Please don’t dismiss us, we need your help right now.”