After an assignment in the South West recently, I drove past the remnants of the "Waroona Fire".
The devastating fire burnt through 71,000 hectares of bushland in the south west of Western Australia, destroying 35 homes in the historic timber milling town of Yarloop, with flames licking the border of farming towns Harvey and Waroona.
The road to Yarloop was still closed, so I drove to a nearby pine plantation off the Forrest Highway and arrived to an eerie landscape.
Photography copyright Kate Ferguson Media
Despite covering fires for television, newspaper and online on both the west and east of Australia, I still can't help but shake my fear and awe of fire. The sheer ferocity, unpredictability and devastation that comes with a severe bushfire is nothing short of remarkable.
I remember covering the Toodyay fire at the end of 2009 and a kind gentleman let me into his property to see the damage. Remarkably his house was still standing, despite his shed being burnt to the ground just metres away. "I can't believe it... incredible.. it's a miracle" he announced as he threw his hands in the air with bewilderment.
Sadly some areas haven't been as lucky.
Seeing the destroyed pine plantation cast my mind to the recent fire that burnt through 11,000 hectares of Tasmania’s World Heritage Area. Ecologists say the unique alpine flora such as King Billy Pines, Cushion Plants and Pencil Pines, some more than 1000 years old, have been burnt with such ferocity they will not rejuvenate.
Fire ecologists say these severe fire events are a sign that Australia’s ecology is facing a “system collapse”. ABC STORY: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-30/fire-ravages-world-heritage-area-tasmania-central-plateau/7127300
One amazing thing I noticed was the early signs of rejuvination amongst the native bushland. Within just over a week, grass trees has begun sprouting from the blackened earth.
We must remember that bushfires are a regular and naturally occurring phenomena in Australia. Fire is so seasonal, that some plants have evolved to use the extreme heat from fire for rejuvenation.
I have been lucky enough to have been taught a bit of information by the local Aboriginal people of both the South West and Kimberley about the seasons and their relationship with fire.
The season during January in our South West of Western Australia is known by the local Nyoongar people as "Birak", or the first Summer.
It's regarded as a hot, dry and a terrible time to start a fire.
Fire was harnessed by the local Aboriginal people across Australia as a tool for hunting and communication. They regularly cast a mosaic of small fires across the land, which once upon a time would have prevented these kinds of devastating fires from occurring.
But that's enough "Whitespaining" from me. If you haven't already had a chance to take some time to chat with an Aboriginal elder, I'd highly recommended it. You never know what kinds of amazing lessons you'll learn.
On a side note, here's a great write up by the Department of Parks and Wildlife about traditional Aboriginal burning: https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/management/fire/fire-and-the-environment/41-traditional-aboriginal-burning
But with urbanisation of the bushland, we face a new problem.
I'm certainly no bushfire expert or ecologist for that matter, however I will continue to watch with intrigue as Australia tackles this modern fire problem.
