Bushfire-hit Victorian businesses bounce back as government vouchers deliver reprieve

A little more than 12 months ago, Rob Fraser stood in his front yard holding a soaking towel and preparing to make, if necessary, a potentially lifesaving jump into a nearby dam.

Flames from a spot fire sparked by the infernos that engulfed vast swathes of East Gippsland, Victoria, danced near his boutique cottage complex in Tambo Upper, north-east of Bairnsdale.

Much to the horror of his wife, Jeannie, the dam was to be the 77-year-old’s last resort if…