Saving animals was high on the priority list for many who did what they could to escape the path of the Barnawartha blaze.
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Border Mail photographer Elenor Tedenborg came across Lory Blundell, Katrina Cook and Emma Campbell as they took their horses from Leneva to Castle Creek Road in West Wodonga.
Quite a few others took up the offer of being able to take their horses and other livestock to the Wodonga racecourse.
The fire led also to an urgent operation to save animals at Yackandandah wildlife sanctuary Kangaloola, which had already had a tough year in keeping financially afloat.
The operators of the centre were desperately running around just after 2.30pm trying to bring in animals from enclosures.
It was not known at the time whether the animals would need to be evacuated.
Glenda Elliott said of particular concern was the sanctuary’s “pinkies” – the very young marsupials that if not orphaned should be in a mother’s pouch, such as tiny joey kangaraoos.
“We’re just trying to get them all in,” she said.
Mrs Elliott said it was clear there was a large fire in the area because all she could see was “smoke, lots of smoke”.
She then had to call off to continue the work, as they were struggling to get by without some of the volunteers they thought might have turned up to assist.
