Black Saturday 10 years on: Long journey and a hard road to healing

February 7, 2009, is forever etched in our history. We lost loved ones. We lost homes, pets, wildlife, natural and physical assets. But we didn’t lose our community spirit, writes Tony Thompson.

February 7, 2009, is forever etched in our history.

The Black Saturday bushfires destroyed so much.

We lost loved ones. We lost homes, pets, wildlife, natural and physical assets. But we didn’t lose our community spirit.

The fires were not contained until four weeks after Black Saturday. We were displaced, and many have never returned. Those who have chosen to return have done so because there is no other place as special as our home.

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The initial days and months after the fires were filled with grief, confusion, bureaucracy and struggles. There were some shining lights that gave us hope, the biggest of which was the amazing generosity of those who came to our aid, locally, within Australia and even internationally.

To those people, we say thank you. Our community came together to take this photo (above) to show our appreciation. It is important to us to acknowledge the support we received at such a terrible time. There were so many acts of kindness, big and small, and we want the world to know that we felt the warmth of the arms that wrapped around us.

Our townships have been gradually rebuilt. They are not the same as they were before, but neither are we.

The rebuilding process has had its ups and downs.

An aerial image of Marysville residents saying thank you to Victorians for the kind of support that has helped the town get back on its feet, a decade after Black Saturday.

Some say 10 years should be plenty of time to rebuild and renew, but the scars on the landscape remain and remind us that healing can take a while.

We worked closely with the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority for the first two years. The government manuals were simply not equipped to deal with a disaster of this scale.

The reconstruction part was visible and measurable, but the recovery was different. Recovery was talked about as though it was a destination that we would reach in time, but we learnt otherwise. Recovery was the journey, not the end point.

The journey continues.

We look for the silver linings. We have some new community groups that have formed; they are strong and forge connections. There are new people moving into the area, bringing new skills, enthusiasm and a fresh appreciation of the beauty around us. We particularly welcome visitors.

We need you to keep coming back and supporting our local economy.

We don’t actually need an anniversary to reflect on Black Saturday, and all that happened in the aftermath. Many of us think about it every day. But as we plan for this milestone, we take time to appreciate all that we have and how far we have come — together.

Tony Thompson is chairman of Marysville and Triangle Community Foundation