Our research is deeply concerning because it signals there are no quick fixes to the ongoing fire crisis afflicting Australia, which is being driven by relentless climate change.
First the fires, then the pandemic. It’s not just the damage to infrastructure, houses, environment and farmland that makes recovery difficult; the emotional and physical toll is often gruelling too.
Plugging ventilation holes in walls helps, but there are dangers.
A volunteer sorts through donated clothing as part of a bushfire appeal. Generally, it’s best to give money - unless the organisation to which you are donating has requested specific goods.
AAP/DEAN LEWINS
We escaped through blackened landscapes where sheep wandered paddocks with the wool burnt off their backs. My three-year-old son, sensing the mood, asked why his dad and I were so quiet.
An evacuation centre at the Hanging Rock Sports Club Function Centre at Batemans Bay, Friday, January 3, 2020. Maybe it’s time to rearrange Australian calendar and reschedule the peak holiday period to March or April, instead of December and January.
AAP Image/DEAN LEWINS