(Out of the Ashes/2011) On the 7th of February 2009, bushfires tore through Victoria. They killed 173 people; destroyed over 2,000 homes and incinerated swathes of prime forest and its wildlife. Fires, though, are a natural process and these mountain forests need fire to regenerate. Severe bushfires occur in Australia at least every 70 years and a mountain ash forest can take up to two hundred years to recover. Yet, even in the face of overwhelming devastation, plants and animals have an uncanny knack of bouncing back, and the environment an extraordinary capacity for healing.
Out Of The Ashes examines the drought leading up to the fires, the ensuing fires and the ecological recovery over the next 12 months through the first hand experiences of people who were involved. Scientists, rangers, animal care workers and people who escaped the fires describe their experiences.
Just one year after Black Saturday we can see the resilience of the natural world. How it's bounced back from the most destructive fires in Australia's history. How Nature rises out of the ashes.