‘THEY’RE MY FARM ANGELS!’

Maria is grateful for the help she received after the Black Summer bushfires decimated her farm

- Harry Mulholland

When Maria Roche put together a bushfire action plan for her cattle farm, she never envisaged that she would have to rely on it.

In December 2019, her property near Adelong in the NSW Riverina region, which she took over from her mum Betty just three months before, was almost entirely engulfed.

"I was right out in the back country up on one of the main ranges looking over to where the fire was burning. It was like Armageddon watching planes and helicopters waterbombing," Maria tells Woman's Day.

"I radioed for help and was told, 'There isn't anyone, you're on your own - just get out of there.'"