That is because, in January 2003, more than two-thirds of the ACT's farmland, national parks, and timber plantations were ravaged by the worst blaze in the territory's history. When the fire fronts broke through into the suburbs on January 18, four people were killed, more than 490 were injured and 470 homes were either destroyed or left uninhabitable.

Thousands of people were left homeless. Tens of thousands more were left shocked and traumatised by a level of destruction they had never expected to see.

Many of the survivors were to relive the trauma of those days when a fire was started in the Orroral Valley by the landing light of an ADF helicopter on January 27 last year. The fire was not reported to the authorities, already on high alert during the "Black Summer", for 45 minutes.

Little information on how ignition occurred, and whether or not it could have been avoided, has ever been made public. For the most part, information has had to be dragged from the authorities by media using freedom of information laws, as happened this week. The blaze raged out of control for days, fanned by unpredictable winds. Residents in the city's southern suburbs spent anxious nights with emergency kits packed, not knowing if they would have to flee their homes.

Canberrans were entitled to be surprised then this week to hear Chief Minister Andrew Barr - who residents were expecting to get to the bottom of this, to fight for compensation where necessary, and to ensure steps were taken this never happened again - rounding on those calling for a formal investigation.

Mr Barr's approach on Thursday, accusing the media of wanting to start a "witch hunt" and emphatically declaring the incident had "absolutely nothing to do with the ACT government", was curious, to say the least.

The way the Chief Minister has responded to this issue demands an explanation, and possibly even an apology, given he appears to be more concerned about the reputation of the ADF than the legitimate concerns of his constituents.

While he may feel he knows all there is to know about the blaze, and, in addition, is probably wary of taking on the might of an Australian Defence Force that, after all, was here to help, Canberrans deserve answers.

Farmers suffered significant losses, 80,000 hectares of the ACT was destroyed, and millions of wild animals perished in the raging holocaust. This is not an event that we should just move on from.

Despite Mr Barr's attempts to characterise it that way, nobody is baying for the blood of the helicopter crew. But, that said, many believe the ADF has significant questions to answer. One of these is why, when no farmer would drive his ute into long grass on a total fire ban day, the helicopter landed with its lights ablaze?

And, most importantly, why the location of the fire was not reported to ACT authorities, who had already spotted the smoke but were unable to pinpoint the location, until 45 minutes after the blaze broke out? It has been reported it only took 20 minutes for the damaged Taipan to fly from the landing site to Canberra Airport.

While there was apparently extensive communication between the machine and its base during the flight, nobody seemed to be able to find the few seconds necessary to say "the fire is at such-and-such co-ordinates".

Mr Barr is seriously out of step with the views of his constituents on this issue. He would be well advised to act quickly and seek the answers Canberrans are entitled to.