Bushfire CRC book launch - Wildfire in the High Country

Wildfire in the High Country - a collection of reports, stories, letters, poems, artworks and photographs from the 2006/07 Great Divide Fires

Photos by Keith Pakenham

The events of the 2006/07 Great Divide Fires were remembered recently at the launch of Wildfire in the High Country, a collection of reports, stories, letters, poems, artworks and photographs from the fires.

The book, compiled by the Mansfield Writers' Group, was launched at an event in Melbourne, hosted by the Bushfire CRC. Representatives from organisations that helped fund the book, including CFA, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and the Department of Human Services (DHS), attended the launch, together with Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron and Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin. Bushfire CRC Chairman Len Foster, AO and CEO Gary Morgan were also present.

The book describes the impact the fires had on the local communities in the Mansfield area and details the recovery and rebuilding process. It also highlights the significant cost of the fires, focusing on the effects on the community and the stories of those on the front lines.

All profits from sale of the books will be donated to local CFA Brigades. Wildfire in the High Country is available from retail outlets around Mansfield or can be ordered online via the Bushfire CRC website.

(l-r) Bushfire CRC CEO Gary Morgan, Mansfield Writers' Group's Robin Purdey, Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron, Mansfield Writers' Group's John Collyer and Bushfire CRC Chairman Len Foster, AO	DSE's Ewan Waller (standing, left) and Bushfire CRC Chairman Len Foster, AO (standing, right) watch as John Collyer and Robin Purdey of the Mansfield Writers' Group (seated) autographed copies of the book