Bracing for a bad bushfire season, this year I’m packing two emergency kits

On a hot and blustery weekend in November, when fire restrictions in most Victorian municipalities hadn’t yet commenced, the state experienced its first bushfires of the season.

More than 700 hectares burnt in one fire in the Otways, while 80 other fires burnt across the state that same weekend.

Victorians have been warned that this year’s bushfire season could be similar to the Black Summer of 2019-20. Credit: Kate Geraghty

In the regional city where I live, hundreds of kilometres away from the coast, smoke from a separate nearby bushfire was visible. Thankfully, this one was smaller and quickly brought under control, but it served as a stark reminder of living in rural and regional Australia, where the threat of a dry summer is never far from your mind.

Throughout autumn and winter, you find yourself paying close attention to the rainfall, hoping for plenty (but not too much). When spring rolls around, I look out the car window at the bush, assessing how much new growth there is and how dry it looks. If it’s a good summer and there are no fires, you can finally exhale.

Experts have advised that this season’s conditions are similar to those of the 2019-20 Black Summer, when more than 300 Victorian homes were lost and more than 1.5 million hectares burnt across the state, meaning being on high alert will be my family’s new normal.

But as fires become more frequent and more extreme, living in this perpetual cycle has also become more stressful.

While I’ve lived in regional Victoria for most of my life, it wasn’t until my family moved onto a larger property, surrounded by bushland and close to a national park, that I seriously began actively planning for the worst-case scenario.

However, eight years on, it’s simply part and parcel of living where we do – being fire-ready is ingrained in us, and our preparation has become an annual routine.

From cleaning gutters, burning off, mowing longer grass, having and knowing our fire plan and replenishing our emergency fire kit, this is what spring looks like.

Our emergency fire kit is filled with practical items that will help safeguard our lives should a fire break out – changes of clothing, toiletries, a mobile phone charger, medicines, a first aid kit, woollen blankets, important documents such as birth certificates and bottled water – all specified within the CFA’s guidelines and stored inside a large overnight bag that can be quickly thrown in the car. We also have carriers, food and water for our two cats in case we need to leave quickly.

The Otways bushfire burnt through more than 700 hectares in November.Credit: Nine

Alongside this is another kit – one my daughters and I call the survival kit for the heart.

This tub is filled with a range of items and mementos from important people and times in our life – a hard drive with photos, significant pieces of jewellery (including my late aunt’s gold and ruby ring), handwritten journals, baby books, a teddy bear from my childhood, comforters my daughters used when they were younger.

For some people, these mementos may be considered “stuff” – unimportant, unnecessary and replaceable. For others like me, this is more than “stuff”, it is the opposite.

“Personal items often hold memories, connections to loved ones, or symbols of identity,” says Dr Rebecca Ray, a clinical psychologist and author.

“They help ground us … evoking emotions and providing a tangible link to the people, places, and experiences that shape who we are.”

And if the worst does happen, and a home or even a loved one is lost, Ray says that sentimental items can play a significant role in helping survivors emotionally recover from the trauma.

“Having even a small keepsake can offer a sense of continuity and grounding amid the chaos of loss. These items can provide comfort, remind someone of their resilience and help them focus on what is still meaningful as they rebuild their lives,” she says.

On the flip side, Ray says that the absence of sentimental items can amplify feelings of loss and disconnection, potentially making grieving more challenging. When people lack physical reminders of their past, it can delay their ability to process and find closure.

While I hope my family is never in a situation where we need to use our survival kits, what is reassuring is that, if we are, we have both tools for our immediate safety and, in the longer term, items that will serve as an emotional anchor, by offering comfort, stability and a sense of continuity that makes these sentimental items significant and irreplaceable.

Shona Hendley is a freelance writer based in Victoria.

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