Throughout my years teaching geography a focus of mine has been to help students understand the dangers and impacts of bushfires in Australia. Living in one of the most fire prone areas of the world with large flowering plants that are adapted to not only be rejuvenated by fires but also have multiple adaptations to speed up the movement of fire and therefore lower the risk to the tree we should all be well educated on the topic. Every year I am amazed by people making irresponsible decisions in horrific fire conditions without really considering the risk to themselves or others. Over the last few years two unique books written around the Black Saturday Bushfires in 2009 have really reinforced this philosophy making the frightening impacts of fires all too clear.

Kinglake – 350

This book extensively follows the events effecting Kinglake on the faithful day through the story of Roger Wood the police officer on duty as the fire decimates the town and surrounding area. His story, while not always the focus of the book, provides an anchoring narrative for the information that Hyland wants to impart to his readers and the more intense personal stories littered throughout the book. In the same way Woods story follows the day as the larger events unfold and carry the reader through passage of the day and into the aftermath.

However, his story is often not the focus of the book as Hyland alternates between a narrative account to a more scientific explanation of bushfires, Victorian ecology, climate systems and the psychological impacts of the events. These explanations are broken up too as at times they can become heavy with information, and it is a credit to Hyland’s writing that he is able to hold the readers’ attention while imparting some at times technical information. In addition, these scientific explanations explain how we can learn from these events for the future.

Perhaps the real power of the book, however, is the other accounts of survivors and their loss that become more of the focus as the fire reaches Kinglake. These stories are haunting and often difficult to read but Hyland generally follows a more informative style based around presenting the account and compared to other works of a more narrative style makes it slightly more approachable, like reading a documentary. Possibly for clearest account for understanding the horrors of the day is the two chapters that cover the fire hitting Kinglake itself and the majority of the town sheltering inside the CFA shed while the skeleton crew of volunteer firefighters including new recruits and teenagers somehow fight the raging inferno outside. Taking students to Kinglake and recognising that this place of safety is nothing more than a very small, corrugated garage makes the idea of a couple of hundred people sheltering for their lives harrowing.  

Kinglake-350 eBook : Hyland, Adrian: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

The Arsonist

A totally different proposition as Chloe Hooper tries to understand the mind of an Arsonist responsible for so much heartache and destruction on Black Saturday. The opening chapter regarding the events and personal stories of the fire is perhaps one of the heart wrenching pieces I have read, especially reading the book just after becoming a parent. Hoopers style of writing here gives it an emotional power that Hyland’s lacks and it sets the tone and the context for the events of the narrative. It is worth noting here that the focus of Hooper’s work is to provide a powerful snapshot and lock more in depth at the investigation and trial than the fire itself in contrast to Hyland’s work which is aimed at understanding events on the day.

After this emotional opening Hooper’s novel is broken up into several different perspectives starting with the detectives tasked with investigating the fire and apprehending the suspect before moving to the perspective of different lawyers involved in bringing the case to trial. Throughout these accounts Hooper demonstrates a skill for procedural fiction and educates the reader in the process of an arson investigation and the court system in Victoria. What these different perspectives offer is explanation rather than judgement as Hooper walks a fine line in exploring the motivations and past abuses that lead to arson without excusing the actions of the man in question. Her skill here means that amazingly despite the book’s devastating opening you finish it with a degree of compassion for the guilty party while still feeling repulsed by his actions

The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire eBook : Hooper, Chloe: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

Both of these texts show the skill of Australian writers at approaching such difficult content and should really be required reading for anyone considering relocating into the bush, not to dissuade them but to make sure they are aware of the dangers.