As flames destroy the wilderness area dedicated to Steve Irwin, neighbours claim Terri is to blame. WARREN GIBBS investigates.
A huge bushfire is destroying the wilderness paradise which Steve Irwin fought to save, as Terri fights criticism she is betraying his dream.
The bushland retreat Terri lovingly calls “Steve’s Place” – a Garden of Eden in Queensland’s remote and rugged Cape York – is burning. Sadly, it now looks more like hell than paradise.
Large areas of this wilderness wonderland have been turned into blackened wasteland by an out-of-control fire that has been burning for weeks.
The land was gifted to Terri by the Federal Government in memory of Steve’s tireless work and ongoing dream to create a world-class wildlife sanctuary – a dream that is now in flames.
Many locals believe Steve would be heartbroken if he could see what has happened to this once pristine 135,000-hectare home to hundreds of rare and threatened species.
As aerial photographs reveal, the fire front, fuelled by dry timber and fanned by howling south-easterly winds, has left a trail of mass devastation, particularly around the iconic Wenlock River.
The chopper pilot who flew over the area estimates that at least 50 per cent of the property, which is more than 400 times the size of Sydney CBD, is ablaze.
And neighbouring property owners have no doubt that the blame lies with Terri’s haphazard management of Steve’s Place.
“It’s a major environmental disaster,” says one neighbour, respected grazier Cameron Quartermaine, who has spent most his life in the Cape. “Terri has no-one but herself to blame.
“Wild fires are a natural occurrence up in the Cape. The damage can be greatly reduced with a strict fire regime, but her land has been left largely untouched. “I reckon almost 80 per cent has been ravaged recently, and that’s a tragedy. It’s poor management and she should accept full responsibility.”
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