| Summary |
Deidre Hunter, a retiree, speaks about the location of her property; the rural community and issues; fire awareness; the problem of being located on and across a state border; her East Gippsland background and family history; her husband's illness at the time of the fires; the long experience of bushfires in the area; the lightning strikes in Brindabellas leading up to January 18; waking, morning of Saturday, Jan.18, to see Mount Tennant on fire; her immediate response; communications; police cordons; two-way radios; Canberra media; liaising with fire fighters by phone, fire tankers parked on property; the fire at Angle Crossing; the chaos of the day; contact with hospitals and issue of care for husband; son Tim's role in fire on Saturday; pattern of burning in immediate locality; concern about and watching for possible flare-ups over next two weeks; contact with neighbours over next few days; issue of different fire authorities, orders and local response to these; the responsibilities of living in a community; pre-Saturday belief that ACT government would manage the fire; their plans for getting out.
Hunter discusses the difficulty of not knowing what the fire would do; lack of visibility, heat; continuation of burning and area burnt; stock issues; her observations of varied responses to disaster; local fire brigade and fire fighting jurisdictions on the N.S.W./A.C.T. border; phases of fire experience: adrenalin rush, anguish, anger and sorrow; community expectations of authorities; political issues around local firefighting; the official chain of command versus local initiative; Recovery Centres and Woden Community Service; the fire situation in Canberra, lack of warning; trust in authorities; anniversary activities; emotional responses to fire; wider community responses to the fire; reports and inquiries; key roles of Michael Lonergin and Val Jeffrey; insurances; ACT government's management of pines and maintenance of plantations at time of fires; traditional management of fires started by lightning strike; National Parks; Royal Commission; the ACT Coronial Inquiry; loss of cultural heritage in fires; talk about the fires coming and going with the seasons; fire being a normal expectation in the country or bush/city interface.
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| Notes |
The project is being conducted in association with Canberra Museum and Art Gallery.
Recorded on April 26, 2005 and May 6, 2005 at Tharwa, A.C.T.
Digital master; National Library of Australia, Oral History collection;
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