Rural homes near Gunning came close to being engulfed in a grass fire on Wednesday that burnt 630 hectares and threatened to close part of the Hume Highway.

Up to 100 sheep were lost in the fire and other livestock had been badly burnt and would probably need to be put down.

Paul Best from the NSW Rural Fire Service said he was notified of the fire shortly before 2pm, it had been contained by 5.20pm and was brought under control by 8pm.

The dynamic and fast moving blaze came within 200 metres to 300 metres of Gunning homes, but crews were able to protect them.​

Mr Best said 185 firefighters in 56 vehicles from Rural Fire Service and Fire & Rescue NSW battled the blaze.

“They will continue to work on it overnight, but as the situation starts to resolve a lot of those firefighters will be released,” he said.

Three water bombing aircraft from Goulburn, Orange and Bathurst and a VLAT DC10 air tanker from Sydney – “the Southern Belle” – also tackled the fire.

Throughout the afternoon, thick smoke restricted visibility on the Hume Highway, 30 kilometres east of Yass. It had mostly cleared by 7.30pm.

Mr Best said a number of livestock were destroyed by the fire. “The Rural Fire Service have been in contact with the Department of Primary Industries in NSW in relation to that,” he said.

“It was a very fast moving grass fire … and as you can tell by the size of the fire, it certainly was of concern there for a while.”

Local resident Greg McGrath was in Yass when he heard the news that a fire was at the border of his property on the Lerida Fish River, approximately two kilometres from Gunning.

“I was able to rush home and found it was just at the borderline, we were able to get all our sheep out of the line of fire,” he said.

“There was a heap of country burnt all around us, you can see there is around 800 hectares burnt.”

Although Mr McGrath was spared the worst, many of his neighbours weren’t as fortunate.

“There are a few hundred sheep that have died on neighbouring properties, they have just called in the district vet to, I suppose, put down the rest.”

“Excavators have been called in, as it has just burnt through the hollows of the trees. At this point the fire is under control but that can change at any time. There’s a lot of work that is needed to be done.”

Despite the slight spattering of rain, more than 20 RFS units will stay at the site of the fire overnight to keep it contained.

“We were so lucky we didn’t lose any stock or fencing,” Mr McGrath said.

“I have to say when they started dropping the water from those planes it was amazing, I have never seen anything like it.”

Despite the devastating loss of farmland and livestock for the small community of Gunning, Mr McGrath is certain that, with a bit of work, they can rebuild what was once there.

“No one likes a fire … What else do you do but pick up the pieces,” he continued.

“Tomorrow will be a bit of work and the mop up will take days if not the week, then we just get up and do it all again.

Police have charged a man following an alleged domestic assault in Wagga Wagga yesterday.

About 12am (Wednesday 20 January 2016), emergency services were called to Bolger Avenue, Mount Austin, after reports a woman had been injured.

Officers from Wagga Wagga Local Area Command located a 41-year-old woman lying on the footpath.

She was treated by NSW Ambulance Paramedics on scene before being taken to Wagga Wagga Rural Referral Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening head injuries.

It’s alleged a man known to the 41-year-old woman assaulted her inside a home on Bolger Avenue.

Police investigating the incident established a crime scene at the home.

Following inquiries, a 31-year-old man was arrested and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intimidation and malicious damage.

He has been refused bail, to appear at Wagga Wagga Local Court today (Thursday 21 January 2016).

Community figures like Karen Chetcuti don’t just vanish.

That’s what police say about the disappearance in the state’s north-east of a 49-year-old mother, who has not been seen since visiting her local pub on Tuesday night.

Homicide squad detectives hold grave fears for the council worker after they found her red Citroen alight in Myrtleford on Thursday morning.

In what has become an increasingly serious investigation, Ms Chetcuti’s purse and handbag were found at her home, although her mobile phone was gone. The house lights had been left on.

The search is entering a critical phase if Ms Chetcuti is to be found alive, police say. Her disappearance has left the tiny town of Whorouly, population 500 and not much more, in shock.

Detective Sergeant Sol Solomon said that the longer Ms Chetcuti was missing, the more worrying the situation becomes.

“That’s the hard question. I don’t know if she is, I really hope she’s still alive, she could be still alive,” he said at a press conference in Wangaratta on Friday afternoon.

He said the manner in which her house was left, coupled with her car being set alight, was telling.

“It certainly paints a picture of the involvement of a second party in her disappearance,” he said.

“There was no sign of any struggle or disturbance having occurred there.”

Her mobile phone, however, has not been found and police are checking its records to discover if it has been used since Tuesday night.

She was last seen that night between 5.30pm and 7.30pm at the Whorouly pub. She was there on her own and her demeanour was nothing out of the ordinary.

“She’s well-known at that hotel,” Detective Sergeant Solomon said.

She had also been seen earlier that day at the Aldi supermarket in Wangaratta.

Detective Sergeant Solomon said Ms Chetcuti failed to turn up to work at the Wangaratta Council on Wednesday morning, an uncharacteristic event that began to raise suspicions.

“She’s described as a very efficient, punctual and highly thought-of person. She didn’t make any contact all day,” he said. He said she was reported missing by a friend later that day.

At 5.15am on Thursday, her red Citroen was found near Halls Road in Myrtleford “totally gutted” by fire, Detective Sergeant Solomon said.

“There was literally nothing left of it but a shell,” he said.

The search for Ms Chetcuti is focusing on a wide area near the car and a “number of points of interest” between there and her Whorouly home, Detective Sergeant Solomon said.

He said she lived there alone, having separated from her husband, with whom she shares custody of their two children.

“We have not eliminated anybody yet,” Detective Sergeant Solomon said.

“However, I should add at this point in time there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest her separation or her marital situation has any connection to her disappearance.”
Karen Chetcuti’s car Ms Chetcuti’s vehicle was found engulfed in flames on Thursday morning.
Karen Chetcuti was described by a neighbour as a ‘cheerful and a happy sort of person’. Photo: Facebook

Ms Chetcuti, originally from Blackburn South, moved to Whorouly to run the pub with her former husband about 20 years ago.

The pair, who split about five years ago, later sold the pub and Ms Chetcuti has been living alone in the home they brought up their children in.

Neighbour Gary Kneebone said Ms Chetcuti is well-known in the area.

“She is very outgoing, cheerful and a happy sort of person,” he said.

He said the town was in shock. “It’s strange … it’s the unknown, hopefully she is alive,” he said.

Friend Greg Hayson said Ms Chetcuti is a “major part of Whorouly” who serves on a number of committees and recently helped raise over $20,000 for the football club change rooms.

Mr Hayson described Ms Chetcuti as a “great mother” to her two children.

“I don’t think you will find anyone who would say a bad word about her, she has the most infectious smile,” he said.

Rural City of Wangaratta CEO Brendan McGrath said Ms Chetcuti has worked at the council for 20 years, most recently as a records co-ordinator.

“Karen is a popular and valued member of staff,” he said.

Detective Sergeant Solomon appealed to the public to contact police if they had seen Ms Chetcuti or her car between Tuesday and Friday, as well as information of any concerns she had raised before she went missing.

“She doesn’t just disappear … the fact her car was discovered a long way away from her home completely burnt out raises the spectre of alarm even greater,” he said.

The search area police focused on is dense state forest between Whorouly and Myrtleford, including parts of the Ovens River between the two towns.

It is unknown what clothes Ms Chetcuti was wearing.

More than a dozen drivers have been pelted with rocks and chunks of concrete thrown from freeway bridges north of Melbourne.

The rock throwers have been targeting drivers on the Hume Freeway in central Victoria since January 9, when a dozen cars were significantly damaged while driving under bridges in Broadford and Wallan.

The vandals struck again this weekend.

Six cars were hit with rocks thrown from an overpass in Wandong in the early hours of Saturday, a police spokeswoman said.

“Police are investigating and are keen to speak to any witnesses or anyone that may have seen suspicious activity in the area,” she said.

The attacks occurred between 12.10am and 12.40am with rocks thrown from the Arkells Road overpass.

While no one was injured in the incidents, previous rock-throwing attacks in Melbourne have caused serious injury and police warn it could easily kill someone.

Police have charged a man with alleged historical sexual assaults of two girls in Ganmain, near Wagga Wagga.

Officers from Wagga Wagga Local Area Command have been investigating alleged historical sexual assaults of two girls who were aged five at the time.

The offences are alleged to have occurred at different times, between 1982 – 1983 and 1987 – 1988.

Following a complex investigation, at 9.50am today (Monday 18 January 2016), police attended a home in Ganmain and arrested a 52-year-old man.

He was taken to Wagga Wagga Police Station and charged with;

– Sexual intercourse with a child under 10 (x2)

– Sexual assault category 4 – indecent assault

– Carnal knowledge of a child under 10

– Sexual assault category 3 (x5); and,

– Sexual intercourse without consent.

The man was refused bail to appear at Wagga Wagga Local Court tomorrow (Tuesday 19 January 2016).