Navy Delivers Emergency Supply Of Beer To Fire-Ravaged Mallacoota

The Victorian town of Mallacoota in East Gippsland has been ravaged by a bushfire that tore through just before New Year's Eve.

Residents fled their homes early in the morning on December 31 and ran to the beach under a black and red morning sky.

Some have been evacuated from the area since, however thousands remain stranded in the town.

While a big proportion of them won't be leaving the area any time soon, they've been given one of the best gifts imaginable: beer.

The Navy has helped deliver an emergency supply of 3,000 litres of beer to the Mallacoota Hotel.

Mallacoota hotel owner Lou Battel told AAP: "We were running low of supplies and a pub can't run without beer, can it? Every Australian needs a beer and definitely the emergency services working non-stop.

"Our good old friends from Carlton managed to send us some stock on Thursday and I hope it gets here after the 20 hours or so it takes the boat to make the trip."

via GIPHY

They're being gifted with 20 kegs of VB and Carlton Draught, three pallets of VB stubbies and 36 cases of Strongbow and Great Northern.

Carlton United Breweries also chucked in an extra four kegs of VB for free to keep them running.

Not a bad haul at all.

CUB chief executive Peter Filipovic said: "The pub is at the heart of regional communities. And a pub with no beer is bad enough at the best of times.

"After what Mallacoota residents and firies have been through the least we could do is make sure they could enjoy a beer."

The HMAS Choules has been in charge of evacuating people from the East Gippsland area and while some might think this mission is either unnecessary or a gross misuse of Navy facilities, keep in mind this will be a tiny win for people who have already suffered a lot.

An employee from the pub reportedly got in contact with the state's fire authority, who then spoke with CUB to organise a shipment to be loaded onto the Navy ship.

The HMAS Choules was coming back to Mallacoota anyway, so why not chuck on a few thousand litres of beer?

"For the people who have chosen to stay in Mallacoota, there is replenishment supplies coming through the ADF until such time as the highway can be reopened," Gippsland MP Darren Chester told reporters of the efforts to send supplies into the community.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Bushfires, Beer, Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie