Australia to remember Black Saturday
Australia to remember Black Saturday
06 February 2010
published by news.smh.com.au
Australia — Australians around the country will pause on Sunday to remember the day, 12 months ago, when bushfires ripped through the heart of Victoria killing 173 people and wiping towns and communities off the map.
The bushfires, which came to be known as Black Saturday, were unprecedented, and traumatised survivors are still trying to come to grips with what happened.
One year on, and towns such as Kinglake, Flowerdale and Marysville are only now beginning to see homes rebuilt and some life returning to their communities.
Many people are living in temporary villages, sheds, garages or caravans set up as reconstruction gains traction, while others have decided never to return.
The surrounding countryside that was scorched by the bushfires as temperatures hit 47 degrees is recovering slowly with tinges of green regrowth, but much of the land remains scarred with burnt and blackened trees.
A royal commission into the bushfires is grappling with issues such as the responses by emergency services to the inferno and how to make homes fire-proof.
The three-member panel, which has already published an interim report, will make recommendations to the state government in an effort to lessen the possibility of such a tragedy ever happening again.
Australians poured out their hearts and opened their wallets raising $380 million to help Black Saturday survivors get back on their feet.
Also, tonnes of food and clothes were donated, trucked in from all around Australia – so much that charities had to say `Thanks, we’ve got enough, don’t send any more’.
To mark the fateful day of February 7, 2009, community events have been organised in bushfire-hit areas such as at the Kinglake West Football Ground on Sunday night, when butterflies will be released and candles lit.
A Remembrance Service will be held at Kinglake West Uniting Church on Sunday. And Victorian Governor David de Krester and his wife Jan will open a memorial bell and gateway in a reflective garden at Kinglake West Mechanics Institute Reserve.
There will be a combined church service and community reflection for Marysville residents at Gallipoli Park, which became the refuge for those who stayed and tried to defend their properties.
Services are also being held in Flowerdale, Whittlesea, Toolangi, Bendigo and Gippsland among many others in bushfire-affected communities across the state.
Some are open to all, including the media, while others want to grieve in private.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Victorian Premier John Brumby will lead a multi-faith memorial service at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne on Sunday to remember those who perished.
Mr Rudd has declared Sunday a national day of mourning, with flags to be flown at half mast around Australia, together with a minute’s silence at noon (AEDT) for the Black Saturday victims.
