Ian Mannix, manager of ABC Local Radio’s Emergency Services and Community Development, recently launched his first book, Great Australian Bushfire Stories.
In his book Ian presents a collection of remarkable real life stories of preparing for, fighting against, and cleaning up after bushfires. These courageous stories offer the reader a new way of thinking about bushfire, by looking at the ways in which emergency authorities, the media and ordinary Australians have reacted to a confrontation with the ‘red steer’.
“The media have convinced us that bushfire is uncontrollable and extreme,” says Ian. “We have come to believe that fire-fighters are brave beyond normal capacity, that only heroes risk their lives to save neighbours or unknown families from burning homes. The message is that only the strongest are able to confront the horror of bushfire. Yet bushfires can be survived, and property can mostly be defended.”
“Considering what a threat fire poses to communities around Australia, this has been a message that has been poorly understood,” he says.
The 13 stories cover bushfires in Port Lincoln, Canberra, Snake Valley near Ballarat, the Gippsland Region, Hobart and Launceston, as well as the Gosford and Mt Kuringai regions near Sydney. While previous books on bushfires tended to focus on firefighting agencies, Great Australian Bushfire Stories focuses on the affected people and their homes.
“People who live in bushfire prone areas will learn a great deal from the experiences of these people. It might even save their lives.”
Ian has been a journalist for the past 30 years. He developed a passion for community safety while he was Programme Director at 774 ABC Melbourne, when three people died in the 1997 Dandenong bushfires.
The book can be purchased from ABC shops, ABC Centres, selected book retailers, online at abcshop.com.au or phone orders to 1300 360 150.
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