SATURDAY'S horror writes a new chapter in a story that has tested the rural spirit, writes XAVIER DUFF
Just how much more can rural Victoria take?
After years of heartbreaking drought and devastating bushfires, the normally indomitable bush spirit was stretched to breaking point last weekend.
No doubt for many of those directly affected by the fires sweeping through the state, that spirit is broken completely.
Who knows under what moniker Saturday, February 7, 2009 will eventually be known, but what we do know is that it has eclipsed Black Friday in 1939 and Ash Wednesday in 1983 as the worst day in Australia's bushfire history.
For those who remember Ash Wednesday, there was a sickening feeling of deja vu as we woke last Saturday to the hot breath of northerly winds and rapidly rising temperatures.
The feeling sat like lead in our stomachs as the reports of fires and stories of heartbreak began to filter through.
And then on Sunday morning the nagging familiarity of the media pictures - burnt shells of crashed cars, smouldering ruins and survivors wrapped in blankets - revealed the full scale of the tragedy.
The only difference this time: a new grisly benchmark in Australia's bushfire history had been set.
The heartbreaking loss of life has shocked the nation.
The only consolation - if there could be one - is that unlike Ash Wednesday when 13 CFA firefighters lost their lives, none this time were victims.
It is a credit to the organisation's firefighter training and procedures.
What is gut-wrenching though for the hundreds of CFA officials and volunteers is that the civilian toll was so high despite years of effort to spread the bushfire safety messages and stop people dying when the state burns.
There will be time later to examine the reasons why this happened and whether rules were broken or indeed the scale and intensity of these fires have rewritten the rule book.
It's likely to be a bit of both. Specifically it seems the decision to evacuate too late had dire consequences for many.
For others, the old conventions of being well prepared and well equipped meant a decision to stay and defend their properties paid off.
These were the ones who had cleared fire hazards and had a good, independent water supply and pumps.
They had the courage to stay as the wall of flames rolled over them and then emerge to put out embers that would otherwise claim an empty house.
But it appears the intensity of the inferno in places such as Marysville overwhelmed even the best prepared.
It will take time to unravel where the normal rules worked, where they didn't and why.
No doubt many of the old lessons will be reinforced. Some conventional wisdoms may be overturned and new lessons learned.
When the inevitable inquiries are complete, hopefully we will emerge wiser and even better equipped to deal with this ever-present threat.
But not all risk will be eliminated. No matter how well prepared and how courageous, those who reside in country Victoria will always live with the threat of fire.
But all that is for later.
What is more important now is sympathy and support - financial and practical - for the victims and their devastated communities, to help them through the dark days ahead.
No stone should be left unturned to ensure they do not suffer any more.
The Federal Government should rethink its economic stimulus package and redirect some of the planned bonuses and infrastructure spending to those who have lost homes and belongings and to communities who will have to rebuild.
No one would begrudge losing part of their $950 cash bonus to provide relief to those who have lost everything.
As for rural Victoria losing its spirit, I doubt it.
While for some the thought of rebuilding their lives in these places will be too much, many others, with our support, will pick up the pieces. They will rebuild and move on just as many did after Black Friday and Ash Wednesday.
What these previous tragedies have taught us is that communities recover and people heal, especially when we all rally as one.
Xavier Duff is a senior Weekly Times reporter.
