Two firefighters from the Dimboola brigade narrowly escaped when their ute was engulfed by fire. The fire was ignited at 12:30 pm on 7 February when strong winds initiated the failure of a 40-year-old tie wire, felling a power line at Remlaw, west of the city. The fire spread southwest and then southeast, across the Wimmera Highway and Wimmera River, to the Horsham Golf Course, and then to Haven, south of the city. Firefighters managed to save the general store, town hall and school at Haven, though flames came within metres of those buildings. Winds of up to changed direction three times throughout the day, producing conditions described by the local CFA incident controller as the worst he had ever seen. To the southwest of Horsham an 82-year-old woman in a wheelchair and her daughter were collected from her house by a taxi when the fire was no more than away; the house was alight as the taxi drove off, and burned down within minutes. At 3:00 pm more than 400 personnel were engaged in fighting the fire, as well as two water-bombing aircraft, 54 CFA tankers, and 35 DSE units. By 6:00 pm the front had moved east, and a wind change then pushed it northeast across the Western Highway to Drung, east of Horsham. Coleraine fire Shortly before 12:30 pm on 7 February 2009 a fire started on farmland, northwest of Coleraine in western Victoria. In gusting winds, a corroded tie wire holding a 48-year-old single wire earth return (SWER) conductor to an insulator failed due to metal fatigue. The insulator was atop Pole 3 on the 12,700-volt Colfitz North spur line. The galvanised steel conductor swung free in the wind, suspended by poles 2 and 4, a span of . It is not believed to have touched the ground, but was pushed into a nearby eucalyptus tree by the strong prevailing wind. Burning gumleaves fell to the ground and ignited grass, from which the fire grew extremely rapidly in the hot, dry and windy conditions. Over 230 firefighters, with 43 appliances and two water bombing aircraft, worked to contain the fire which burnt . The fire destroyed one house, two haysheds, three tractors, the Coleraine Avenue of Honour, and of fences, as well as injuring livestock, but firefighters were able to save six other homes, including that of the parents of Victorian Premier John Brumby. The fire