By Margaret Maccoll
The fires that raged across Peregian Beach a year ago brought the community together last Saturday at Peregian Beach Community House to reflect on the event, the bravery of firefighters and the many acts of kindness.
Mayor Clare Stewart thanked firefighters and emergency workers for their unwavering bravery and dedication.
“We would not be here without them,” she said.
There were two observations that came out of the fire event, Cr Stewart said – the need to be prepared and the difference community support can make.
She said Council had increased its fuel reduction burns by 70 per cent this year and would run a get ready program in October.
Those who lived through the fires will remember the time you had to flee and the community opened its doors, its houses and its hearts to help, she said.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services officer Robert Smith said the Peregian fire was an event the likes of which they had never seen before. He thanked the community for their support, for evacuating quickly so they could focus on fighting the fire and for all the thank you cards they had received.
Councillor Frank Wilkie was one of the community evacuated from his Peregian Beach house. “In our case we had the backyard burnt out,“ he said. “Firefighters stood between the house and fence It’s 98 per cent asbestos but it’s still there.“ He said gratitude was the overwhelming sentiment felt through the community. We still have a community thanks to the emergency services, he said.
Cr Wilkie praised staff who transformed The J theatre into an evacuation centre at a moment’s notice and he remembered the kindness of residents across the Shire who turned up to offer their homes to complete strangers.
Only one house, belonging to Pam Murphy, was lost in the blaze but it was the environment that felt its full impact.Environment spokesperson Rochelle Gooch talked of the heartbreak at seeing the blackened remnants that bushcare volunteers had worked for 22 years to regenerate, but how pleasing it was to see the recovery of many native trees and the return of some wildlife.
Residents were treated to a free morning tea to mark the occasion and viewed a photographic exhibition ’State of Emergency’ by Sunshine Beach photographer Barbora Tomikova, documenting the 2019 bushfires.
