WHEN bushfires jumped the state border and forced the evacuation of Corryong last New Year's Eve, a nearby family bakery was already hatching a plan.
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Tallangatta Bakery co-owners Mandy and Brad Crispin knew they'd need to operate around the clock to feed hundreds of firefighters on the ground as well as those displaced by the fires.
They ran their bakery 24 hours a day for almost three weeks.
"Once we got the phone call to say the fire had crossed through the river and Corryong and Nariel Valley had been evacuated we knew what we had to do," Mrs Crispin said.
Mrs Crispin said they supplied breakfast and lunches to Department of Sustainability and Environment firefighters and lunches and dinner for HVP fire crews, which were part of the Victorian Country Fire Authority.
On their biggest day they packed 800 lunches.
"On that day we had Thurgoona Bakery come out and help us and BBB working the coffee machines," she said.
"Not in 20 years of owning the bakery have we ever experienced anything like it.
"We've had big fires before but not the type of fires that impacted the whole community.
"I don't think I slept much for the first couple of days."
Helped by their children Emily and Harry, Mrs Crispin's sister Jo Smith and a huge band of friends and volunteers, the couple rallied to feed the firefighters.
"I think we knew we were safe, unlike Corryong, and that allowed us to do what we had to do," Mrs Crispin said.
"We were very humbled by the community support.
"The firefighters were the heroes; they did an amazing job!"
IN OTHER NEWS:
In a new series Adam Liaw's Roadtrip for Good, the cook, author and TV presenter visited the summer bushfire-impacted regions.
Over four episodes, Liaw unearthed some of the best food Australia had to offer, making mouth-watering Asian-inspired dishes with the produce he picked up along the way.
He found resilient communities were rebuilding and ready to welcome visitors back.
Liaw chose crusty bread rolls from the Tallangatta Bakery to make a Vietnamese roast pork Banh Mi.
He also visited award-winning chef Michael Ryan's two-hatted restaurant Provenance at Beechworth.
There he made Japanese cabbage rolls with Ryan's roasted tomato sugo.
As a MasterChef fan, Mrs Crispin welcomed the chance to meet Liaw.
"He was a very nice, genuine guy with very good motives," she said.
Adam Liaw's Roadtrip for Good premieres on SBS Food on Wednesday, December 2, at 8.30pm.
