Two women who lost their homes in the Peregian fires in 2019, have spoken about the disaster in a new documentary.
The short film’s been released, as today marks three years since the blazes first broke out.
Council enlisted local filmmakers, Pluggas, to produce the 15-minute film to document the fires and their impact on our community and promote the importance of disaster preparedness.
It features interviews with Holly Kemp and Pam Murphy, whose homes were destroyed.
Pam fled as embers rained down on the coastal town, setting her home of more than 30 years alight.
She’s told filmmakers it was days before she was allowed to return to the house, accompanied by police.
“The verandah still wasn’t burnt and we could walk along the verandah, but you looked in through the doors and the windows and it was just a mass of embers.
“All my paintings went up, all my husband’s records from the jazz bands, antiques and what-have-you – they’ve all just gone, just like that,” she says.
Cooroibah’s Holly Kemp says it was a scary experience.
“When we were leaving… the trees across the road in the National Park, the tops of those were on fire; trucks screaming down the road as we were going out the road; it still makes me shake now.”
More than 8,000 residents were evacuated across multiple suburbs and thousands of hectares burned during a series of 2019 fires, which began with the first Peregian Beach fires, followed by the Cooroibah and Noosa North Shore fires.
“The past three years have reminded us how resilient and caring a community we are, but it’s vital we stop and reflect on how quickly and furiously the fires took hold and consider what steps we should take to ensure we are prepared should disaster strike again,” says Mayor Clare Stewart.
“Fortunately, no lives were lost but the outcome could have been much worse. If you haven’t made a bushfire survival plan, it’s our hope this film will inspire you to do so,” the Mayor says.
Mayor Stewart says Council has invested significantly over the past three years in measures aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2019 fires.
“We’ve boosted budget funding for bushfire resilience measures such as more controlled burns, greater trail maintenance and we’ve also appointed an in-house fire officer to help keep our community safe.”
You can watch the full video at Council’s Heritage Noosa website.
Image: Noosa fires 2019, supplied
