Nicky Clement, a Hagley resident, who set up the GoFundMe campaign, said the farmers took it upon themselves to travel from across the region without being asked to help, while “putting themselves in the line of fire”.
She wrote how the farmers were “heroes” and now needed help to rebuild fencing destroyed by flame, as well as cover the cost of emergency feed and water for their animals during heatwave conditions.
“Anyone who chooses to put themselves into the extremes of nature like this is a hero in my eyes,” she said.
“After a summer of drought, with harvests and yields already catastrophically low, the farmers of these fields now have to start planting, fencing and re-establishing the lost ecosystems while continuing to lose income as police and fire investigate.”
