Sunday, 1 September 2024

The long, if not impossible, road back

“But in many minds, staying to defend your house is the Australian test of grit: it’s proof that you deserve to be living in the bush in the first place.”

Dwarfed by the 2009 Kilmore East and Murrindindi wildfires was a relatively smaller but horrifically deadly fire that occurred at Churchill in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria. Deadly in that this fire took 11 lives.

I recently came across another perspective of the fire in the form of a book: the arsonist A Mind on Fire, by Chloe Hooper, Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, 2018.

I did some authenticity checking before committing to review this book and am satisfied that it’s genuinely heartfelt: a couple of relevant review comments by others:

‘A brilliant vignette in which one appalling incident illuminates a saga of social breakdown.’ Sarah Wheeler, The Times, and from the back cover

‘A gripping heart-stopping piece of true crime reportage … Deserves the widest possible audience.’ Brian Schofield, Sunday Times (UK)

Of course there are also reviews by Australians, but I chose these two given our somewhat hardened attitude to wildfire, or bushfire if you prefer, quickly forgetting and moving on to await the next occurrence having learned little.

The book basically addresses three issues: the investigating detectives; the lawyers; and the courtroom.

The author gets close to the investigating detectives assisted by a fire expert who were able to, using the effect of the fire on vegetation, determine the point of origin of the fire and its subsequent spread before the wind. Anyone looking for authoritative information on wildfire investigation would find this instructive.

The author also goes into some detail about the investigation leading to the arrest of the individual eventually convicted for lighting the two fires, including the importance of observations by locals who ultimately help lead investigating police to that individual.

The convicted fire lighter was recently released into the community.

Also in the book are accounts of personal experiences of involvement in the fire, those who were caught in the fire and some who drove into the fire to help family and friends. Some of these people would lose their lives. I found these accounts very moving and thought-provoking.

Volume 1: The Fires and the Fire-Related Deaths, 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, The Churchill Fire 17 provides official details of the circumstances of the loss of the 11 lives.

From a family preparing for the arrival of the fire:

“Throughout the afternoon, the family listen to the radio and check the websites of the Country Fire Authoity and the Department of Sustainability and Environment [now DEECA]. There are now blazes all around the state, although no specific warnings are issued for their area.”

Regardless of warnings and evacuation demands/advice issued by the emergency management agencies across Australia, some will still wish to remain with their homes.

Which brings me back to the quote at the beginning of this posting:

“But in many minds, staying to defend your house is the Australian test of grit: it’s proof that you deserve to be living in the bush in the first place.”

Causes me to wonder, are the responsible agencies ‘washing their hands’ of the community with their ‘everybody out’ approach? A long road back to restoring confidence in personal wildfire survival in a community continually subjected to what I consider to be evacuation scare tactics.

Reasonable to ask, are those agencies advocating a one-size-fits-all evacuation approach meeting the needs of those who choose to stay, in other words are those agencies fit for purpose in meeting the wildfire survival needs of the whole community?

I recommend this informative and easy to read book on a very complicated subject that should be available to borrow from the local library. Knowledge that could be life saving if it provokes curiosity in the reader.

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