In Memory of the Valley Fires

Marian poet shares emotional tribute to firefighters who faced the horrific November 2018 fires

QFES firefighter Les Wilson pictured at Crediton as fires raged across the area, and the region.

EVERY day during the 2018 fires Marian resident Anne-Marie Russell-Pace said goodbye to her husband, David Pace, not knowing if he would return.

Ms Russell-Pace said her husband was a volunteer firefighter who helped battle the Finch Hatton and Eungella blazes.

When the fires burnt out, Ms Russell-Pace said she was inspired to write a poem to capture "the toll it took on him and the other firefighters".

"These men and women were fighting for the benefit of other people and the environment," she said.

"Listening to some of the experiences he had on the front line - it was quite emotional."

For a year, she said, the poem was left, forgotten in her desk.

But with devastating fires flaring across Queensland and New South Wales she said it was time to share the memories of the Mackay region fires.

Twelve months on, Ms Russell-Pace said, the anxiety and pain of the fires was still around.

"I could see it on my husband's face, that tension," she said.

"And the whole community fought those fires".

In Memory of the Valley Fires

As soldiers left standing at the end of the battle,

Blackened and laid bare

With the savage rage of the fire of the Pioneer Valley

The trees were denuded of leaves and life after their battle.

The fire, fought back each time it lost the upper hand,

Until in its rage it stormed through the bush and up the hills

Up the gorges and ridges.

Water bombs on a giant scale and

Dozed breaks to slow it down,

but it continued to rage around.

Men exhausted,

As more from afar joined the battle.

 

For two weeks raged the battle

Man and machine on one side

The raging fire on the other.

Taking turns with the upper hand

Until at last the fire was spent.

Water was a blessing as

Bombing saved the Chalet,

And towns were saved as well.

But the fire continued to consume the bush

In the frenzy of the battle.

 

Men were exhausted after the fight.

And the rain arrived in regular showers, to bring life back to the valley.

The green velvet of the new grass softened the view, Refreshed the air and enlivened the land.

Wet smiles brought new life faces

And shoulders relaxed

They had won the battle.

 

Once in a lifetime, they say.

Thank goodness we won't see the like again.

However!?

READ MORE FIRE ANNIVERSARY COVERAGE: 

>The 2018 fires: How it happened

>Town trapped in a 'firestorm'

>The most iconic images of the November 2018 fires

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