Great Australian Bushfire Stories

Ian Mannix

Apr 2011 · Sold by HarperCollins Australia

About this ebook

'the biggest cleared area was my vegetable patch ... I ran and lay down and made a little tent over myself. I thought it would preserve the last of the oxygen. Under the blanket I could hear explosions - the gas bottles from the houses further up, and I could just imagine all my neighbours dead up the road. the wind was roaring, the trees cracking: an awful lot of noise ... I thought I wasn't going to survive.' Peter Luke, Gaffneys Creek, Victoria 'the sky got darker again ... I started to think about the next day's newspaper headlines: "Stupid thirty-eight-weeks pregnant woman drives into fire with toddler."' Sonia Stanton, Canberra 'I looked down into where the houses were totally surrounded by a sea of flame and thought, well, that's it, she's all over. Everybody will be killed down there.' John Hyles, Namadgi Ranges GREAt AUStRALIAN BUSHFIRE StORIES is a collection of remarkable tales from all around Australia that tell of our country's fiercest natural phenomenon: the bushfire. Farmers, landowners, firefighters and city dwellers share with ABC journalist Ian Mannix their experiences of fires: preparing for them, fighting them, and the heartbreak task of mopping up when even their best efforts failed. Some stories are funny, some tragic, many courageous, but all are a testimony to the ingenuity and grit of human beings as they fight to save their homes, their towns and, in some cases, their lives.

Ratings and reviews

What a read. Desperate, sad and moving in places, I feel like this should be required reading for anyone moving to the bush. Better the devil you know, after all.

This book is a good way of understanding the impact of bushfires on individuals and communities. It is good to encourage people to join bushfire brigades and prepare their homes and businesses for the impact of bushfires.

About the author

Ian Mannix heads ABC Local Radio's Emergency Services and Community Development team in Adelaide. He is responsible for the radio coverage of national disasters. He has been a journalist for 30 years. This is his first book.