“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.
