MEDIA RELEASE

Lessons learnt from the Black Saturday bushfires: tracing a path of devastation, recovery and resilience

Media are invited to join the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium delegates for a technical tour of Victoria’s ‘Black Saturday’ region, on Wednesday 24 July, 8:30am - 5:30pm.

The Black Saturday bushfires were a catastrophic series of up to 400 individual fires burning across Victoria’s Central Highlands in February 2009. The fires resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire, leaving 173 people dead and 414 injured as a result.

Now retired Chief Fire Officer, Ewan Waller, who led the Department of Sustainability and Environment’s response to the Black Saturday fires, will conduct the technical tour of the region.

Mr Waller says, “This was Victoria’s worst fire day since European settlement. It was a horrific day - the loss of life and the damage was devastating.”

The tour follows the path of fires through the affected region and now rebuilt towns. The main discussions throughout the day will focus on the integral role played by remote sensing during the fires, in the analysis of the damage after, and ongoing throughout the recovery.

The local communities welcome tours of the region as part of their recovery process. Some local members will join the tour for lunch, and talk of their experiences.

“The Marysville community is slowly recovering after the town was virtually burnt down, but it is a slow process and the memories are very painful,” Mr Waller says.

The final stop will be at Stevenson’s Fall - a picturesque forested valley that was literally destroyed by the fires, but that is now also in the process of recovering naturally.

“This tour for international scientists is a vital opportunity to show the impact of a large disaster and how we respond to it,” Mr Waller says.

“This is particularly important in preparing for other potentially devastating events,”

Places are strictly limited, so please email the Media Manager on the details below to secure a seat and to receive further information. The International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium is proud to support these local communities in their recovery process.

Media contact: Melissa Lyne, Melissa.lyne@gmail.com, ph: +61 415 514 328

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