Another side of Black Saturday
Last Thursday (4/6/09) I went for a short walk after school (I’m a teacher) from Mt Donna Buang (1250m) to Mt Boobyalla. Mt Donna Buang is the closest summit to Melbourne that receives regular snowfalls each winter. A few hundred meters down the track from Mt Donna Buang’s summit is a big sign warning that the track is so rough that any winter snow traverses are so difficult beyond this point that further progress is not advised. Having walked parts of the track before I concurred with this advice so imagine my surprise when a few hundred meters on I came across this sight:
The fallen leaves hide the reality a bit but previous to this the rough track was half overgrown and involved a lot pushing through scrub that encroached the narrow foot pad.
Mt Donna Buang is just above Warburton in the Yarra Valley and is in the Maroondah Dam catchment area of which a large part was burnt on Black Saturday and the weeks following this disaster. On a number of days during the bushfire crisis warnings were issued that fire would most likely obliterate the area and mass evacuations took place. During this time I knew that the CFA was busy building extensive firebreaks but to see the scale of them up close was both disturbing and awe inspiring.
Disturbing because on the surface the environmental impact looks truly horrible, awe inspiring that a containment line in excess of 30km could be constructed so quickly and effectively. Total respect for the efforts of the CFA volunteers, park rangers and dozer drivers on their formidable accomplishment in saving this part of the valley in the face of such an epic threat
A few other post black Saturday pics taken 20km from here in Toolangi State Forest:
Stephen Colquitt
Thanks for posting this Travis – I have just started a new job in this field in the past month (Forestry management) so it is interesting to see pictures from on the ground
Travis Easton replied
No problem, glad it’s of interest
Mel Brackstone
Amazing scenes, Travis! All hail the fire fighters!
Travis Easton replied
I’ll second that.
kalaryder
It was good to see the green trees next to firebreak (although that was ugly) and the lovely images of new grow is most inspiring.
Travis Easton replied
The fires ended up falling short of this part of the break, but I would presume they were critical further along on some of the high wind days post Black Saturday.
Geraldine Lefoe
Amazing how quickly nature heals itself Travis – hopefully the firebreaks will help prevent the next one!
Travis Easton replied
You’d hope with how extensive they were things will be right in these areas for ten years or so, cheers.
gaylene
wow Trav – isn’t nature so great that it overcomes such a traumatic event of the magnitude of the firestorm and regenerate again – rebirth!
Travis Easton replied
Certainly is Gaylene, thanks for droppin’ by again, appreciated.
WendyJC
an extremely interesting subject and read Travis. i had the fortune of meeting and chatting with some of the workers building the breaks “palma night at the local pub” they certainly did a tremendous job in saving this side of the valley …
Travis Easton replied
Hi Wendy, I’m kind of intrigued to know if they were built by cfa volunteers or forestry workers or park rangers? I imagine a big job like this would need to be done by professionals, the scope of it is huge and I agree the job they did was amazing, we have a lot to thanks them for in what was an extremely difficult task.
WendyJC
hey Travis, from what i could gather the majority were CFA! brought in from all over the state and some further, they were fairly confident that it wouldnt get us in warburton and the surrounding valley … and after reading and seeing your photo’s i can see why .. they also said it was better to leave the area just in case! i am just glad its over and hope never to come that close to something so extreme again …
Geoff Coleman...
It’s always sad to see destruction on this scale. Did it have any effect? From what I saw on TV it looked like nothing was going to contain that maelstrom. Unbelievable bravery and commitment from all those professionals and volunteers – I just hope it was worth the environmental cost.
Travis Easton replied
On black Saturday your opinion is certainly true but the fires burnt for three weeks after this with only a few days of higher winds in that time so these sort of firebreaks were an effective and crucial part of the effort to save this part of the Yarra Valley. On the the high alert days that followed fire spotters and the cfa volunteers did an awesome job jumping on every outbreak amazingly quickly and most certainly saved many from more destruction, these fire breaks on these days were a crucial part of that result. An ugly but necessary evil.