ACT volunteer firefighters were lauded at a national awards ceremony on Wednesday for a stunning hard-copy book they produced capturing the stories and images of the bushfires from the ferocious summer of 2019-20.
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This summer's mild weather is in stark contrast to those blistering, frenetic days of two years ago when ACT firefighters fought blazes along the eastern seaboard, including in their own backyard, from the suburb of Beard to the Orroral Valley.
More than a year of work by members of the ACT Volunteer Brigades Association went into capturing the stories and images from the Black Summer bushfires, resulting in a stunning, 400-page, coffee-table-style book called Ablaze. The long, hot summer of 2019-20.
The book has received national recognition, with association members finalists in Wednesday's 2021 Resilient Australia Awards, competing in the mental health and wellbeing category.
One of the association members, Gary Hooker, was also nominated in the Resilient Australia National Photography Award for a photograph he took on the first night of the Orroral Valley fire. He called the image Awestruck - preparing for the long battle ahead, such was the size and power of the blaze that confronted firefighters.
That stunning photograph, showing firefighters silhouetted against a raging orange night sky, became the cover of the book.
Mr Hooker and fellow association members Matt Dutkiewicz, Mark Zorzi, and Allison Ballard attended the awards ceremony in Melbourne's Botanic Gardens.
A photograph from a Blue Mountains fire won the photography award and a program to help schools affected by the bushfires won the mental health and wellbeing category.
The ACT representatives were nevertheless thrilled to make it to the finals, members recognised for their work on and off the fireground. They said the book was meant as a permanent record of the contribution for all first responders to the fires, including police, SES and professional firefighters, from their own perspective. A copy is lodged with the National Library.
The book is now in its second edition and available for purchase at www.actvolunteerbrigadesassociation.com/ All proceeds go to the association to help volunteer firefighters. The book will be for sale at the Christmas markets at Bunnings Majura Park on Thursday night and the Hall Village Christmas Fair on Saturday.
"Given we had no budget we are all pretty chuffed to be a finalist against Beyond Blue and the University of Melbourne," Matt said.
"It was great recognition for 18 months of work - we were excited to hear we were finalists."
Virginia Eastman from the Blue Mountains Wales won the Resilient Australia National Photography Award for her image Still Standing - We and The Trees. Virginia captured a Blaxland Bushfire Brigade firefighter standing out against a charred landscape.
The awards are presented by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience. Its executive director Amanda Leck praised all the finalists.
"The quality of this year's entries across all categories was outstanding, particularly in what has been an extremely challenging year with the ongoing impact of COVID-19," she said.
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"Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of Australian communities before, during and after a disaster is an important part of building resilience and this is reflected in the addition of a new national award, the Resilient Australia National Mental Health and Wellbeing Award.
"AIDR congratulates all entrants, finalists and winners, from schools, communities, local governments, and businesses from across the country.
"These projects demonstrate that by working together we can build safer, more connected and better prepared communities, as well as inspire others to help to create a more resilient Australia."
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