Michael Gorey (Mick) was born at Waubra, the fourth child of Michael and Eleanor. He was educated at Macarthur Street Primary School, Ballarat.

He was short for his age and went to train as a jockey at Holt Stables in Melbourne for a couple of years. However, he grew too big and returned home to the family farm at Fumina.

He worked on the farm for a while and then went road building when the government began constructing a road to the developing timber town of Tanjil Bren. Mick later worked there in a sawmill.

Mick had a serious accident while road building. He spent a long time in Warragul Hospital after a dynamite blast went off too soon. He was a talented footballer and played for the Tanjil Tigers with his brother Jim. Their sister Mary recalls that Mick was a popular young man who was liked by all who knew him.

His life was tragically cut short at the age of 19 by the savage bushfires which destroyed much of Victoria in January 1939. Mick suffocated in a dugout at Saxton's Mill, Tanjil Bren, on January 13.

In the book "Ordeal by Fire" (1977) former Herald journalist WS Noble outlines the circumstances leading up to Victoria's worst ever bushfires.

Noble records that 1938 saw Victoria in the grip of drought. September and October were among the driest months on record. January temperatures were regularly above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. By Black Friday (January 13, 1939) it seemed that most of the state was alight.

Noble comments that the heavily forested areas of the Great Dividing Range were obviously vulnerable to fire. Many sawmills operated in the ranges without much thought given to safety or fire prevention. It was in this harsh environment that Mick Gorey worked and found himself on that fateful day. Noble describes it thus:

"Noojee was destroyed without loss of life, but in the hills beyond, the human tragedies were mounting. There were 40 people at a mill settlement at Tanjil Bren who by 1pm could see a fire in the distance. Three-quarters of an hour later pitch blackness descended on the little community.

"Men with lanterns and torches collected their tools, gear and valuables and took them to the dug-outs. 'It came up like a big ball of smoke, which suddenly burst into flames,' one man said. 'Almost like a flash the fire leaped 10 chains right into the mill itself.'

"Thirty-one men, including one of the mill owners (JG Saxton) took to a big dug-out. This was no half-shelter such as had been provided at some mills. It was 50 feet long, seven feet wide, by six feet high. It was stocked with food and plenty of water. A blanket was hung across the entrance and a second one about six feet back. This formed a partial air lock, which helped to keep out the smoke.

"Six other men took refuge in a second dug-out, and another of the mill owners (AB Saxton), his wife and a man named Mick Gorey went to a third. Everyone thought they would be safe there.

"About 3pm the main fire-front came down. Mill huts and a stack of about 350,000 super feet of timber burst into flames. The hot wind drove burning air into the mouth of the main dug-out. So intense was the heat that the men holding the first blanket across the entrance had to be relieved every two minutes. Water was poured over them and the blankets. Time after time the blankets caught alight.

"After a time the wind changed direction and blew across the dug-out, so that men were able to jump out for a moment, take a quick breath of air and get back into shelter. By 5pm it was safe to take the blankets down, but for some time after that it was still too hot to stay outside.

"In the second dug-out six men were going through an even more testing time. The heat prevented them from keeping a blanket over the entrance. They made frantic efforts to smash a water pipe which ran through the dug-out, but it was so hot it scorched their hands. They were close to collapse when a water tank above the dug-out toppled over and the water seeped through the soil onto the dug-out floor. Crawling to the far end, they buried their faces in the wet soil and survived.

"But while this was going on, disaster had overtaken the other three. The Saxton house nearby caught fire and the heat from this swept over their dug-out. It is believed that timber supporting the roof of the dug-out caught alight. Saxton seems to have been struck by some of the falling timber, which broke his neck. His wife and Gorey went to his rescue as he lay near the mouth of the dug-out and tried to drag him back, but were overcome."

At the coronial inquest in Warragul, Mick's workmate Herbert Henry Melville stated how he had identified his friend's body at McGilton's Mortuary.

Melville gave some background to circumstances leading up to the fire, and recalled: "Prior to the fire catching the mill, the deceased Michael Gorey told me that Mr Alfred Bentley Saxton (Ben), who manages the mill, had told him to go to the tunnel at his house and give Mrs Saxton a hand.

"At about 2.55pm the fire reached the mill and all the men went into the tunnels. The fire was so fierce that we all had to remain in the tunnels for about two hours. About 6pm two of the men came to the tunnel I was in and one of the men that was with me went to Mr Alfred Bentley Saxon's tunnel at which Saxton, his wife and deceased were in. This man's name was Jack Morrison, who was employed at the Northern Mill which is close by.

"He returned to the tunnel I was in and said Mr and Mrs Saxton and Michael Gorey were gone. 'If I had got there a little earlier Gorey might have been saved.' Later in the night the three bodies were removed from the tunnel they died in to another tunnel. At about 3am the next morning (January 14, 1939) Mr Eric Saxton arrived at the mill from Moe.

"At about 10am a party including myself took the bodies out of the mill to the road from where they were transported by a motor truck and the bodies eventually arrived at Warragul. We had to carry the bodies about 11 miles through the burnt forest."

A graphic photograph of the bodies being carried out was often used in The Herald newspaper for years to come and greatly distressed the family.

Melville's statement that Mick Gorey might have been saved if someone had got to him earlier is interesting. John Morrison did not mention this in his statement to the Coroner. However, he did recall leaving the main dugout to see what was happening elsewhere.

"We heard someone 'cooee' and I ran down to the CRB dugout and saw three of the men there walking about. I also ran over to the dugout the deceased Mr Ben Saxton, his wife and Micky Gorey were in and saw that the mouth was all on fire and the roof was burning and a lot had fallen including earth and stones," Morrison said.

"I might have got in then had I had a wet blanket. I then returned and rested a little while. Then I returned again with a wet blanket, which I wrapped around me. When I got into the dugout, having to rush through the burning timber, I saw a tub with some water in it and I threw it on the fire. I saw Mr and Mrs Saxton lying face downwards on the floor. Mr Saxton was lying with his head towards the back of the dugout, but slightly angle ways; his feet were towards the mouth and would have been about three feet from the timbered portion. Mrs Saxton was lying the reverse way, with her left shoulder to her husbands's left shoulder. I threw some water over them.

"I had to lay down then to get a breath of air; the heat was so great and the smoke so bad. I felt the arms of Mr and Mrs Saxton as I was lying down and I am certain they were then dead. I then got up to try and see where Micky was and found him against the back wall of the dugout lying face downwards. He was also dead."

Morrison told the inquest: "It appeared to me that the three deceaseds had all been overcome by the smoke and heat. I think I would have succumbed myself if it had not been for the water I threw over the flames."

David McIntyre, a blacksmith from Moe, was in the main dugout when Morrison returned from his first visit to where the Saxtons and Mick Gorey had died.

"John Morrison went to Ben Saxton's dugout to see how they were. Morrison returned in a short time and said: 'I think they are all dead.' I said to Jack Saxton that I had better go and make sure," McIntyre said.

"I then went and on my arrival saw that the front of the dugout was ablaze and starting to cave in. I went into the dugout and saw Mrs Saxton who was nearest to the mouth of the dugout. Ben Saxton was close to her and Michael Gorey was at the extreme end of the dugout. They all appeared to be dead. I carried the deceased Gorey out of the dugout straight away."

There is an apparent contradiction here which does not appear to have been challenged. Morrison said that he returned to the main dugout in need of a rest, and then went out again with a blanket. But McIntyre said that he went out after Morrison had returned and actually removed Mick's body from the smaller dugout. Morrison told the Coroner he was in no doubt, after his second visit to where the Saxtons and Mick Gorey had perished, that they were all dead. However, McIntyre seems to have gone out and looked for himself because of an element of doubt on Morrison's part.

Other statements to the Coroner show that Morrison acted bravely by leaving the main dugout to see how the others were faring. However, it seems there is circumstantial evidence that if he had been supported on his first visit to the smaller dugout, or if he had taken a wet blanket with him, Mick Gorey and Mrs Saxton might have been found alive.

Certainly no blame was attached to anyone. In fact the Saxton mill had some of the best safety features in the district. Ben Saxton, who was killed with Mick, won praise for his leadership in preparing for the blaze. The Coroner accepted that Mick Gorey and Mrs Saxton, or one of them, had been trying to drag Mr Saxton to a safer position after he was struck by a falling beam. It seems he was the first to die.

The Deputy Coroner, Joseph Cromie, delivered his finding on March 29, 1939 at Warragul. He found that death was "from suffocation due to a bushfire that swept over the dugout to which he had gone for safety."

Mick's premature death ended the life of a happy, energetic young man. His sister Mary believes Mick would have enlisted to serve in the Second World War. His death was a devastating blow to his parents, especially his father, for whom Mick was a favorite son.