Tragedy lingers, but hope flourishes

The 10 years since Australia's deadliest bushfires claimed 173 lives have written countless stories.

But amid the worst of Black Saturday's aftermath, a theme of recovery and courage recurs.

"Over the months and years, the fire didn't dominate us anymore," says Marysville GP Lachlan Fraser.

"It's part of our history and psyche and always will be. In some ways it's made us tougher."

The horrors of February 7, 2009 devastated thousands of people, many of whom have still not recovered, and remain a heavy presence in the lush regions little more than an hour's drive north of Melbourne.

Communities as idyllic as their names suggest - Kinglake, Marysville, Strathewen, Flowerdale - were left as piles of ash and rubble.

More than 100 people were killed in the Kinglake area, including the mountain hamlet of Strathewen which lost 27 of its 200 residents and 37 of its 40 buildings, while 40 people perished in and around picturesque Marysville.

It wasn't just confined to Melbourne's near north, more than 200km to the east in Gippsland, 11 people were killed in the town of Callignee

Almost 50 children and young adults were orphaned and entire families were taken.

Gary and Robyn Brown from Kinglake lost their son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren; the Davey family endured similar unfathomable tragedy.

The trauma for those who remain lingers. Suicides, relationship breakdowns, psychological issues and alcoholism have become too familiar in the region.

A decade on, reminders are everywhere and anniversaries make them worse.

Many can't bear it when February 7 comes around each year and don't want to be involved in 10th anniversary commemorations.

Sensitive to this, the Victorian government is restricting its events to a service in Melbourne on February 4, while fire-hit communities are trying to restrict commemorations to locals only.

Yet there is also tremendous optimism and hope. The towns have rebuilt, and while some residents left, many have stayed, newcomers arrived, schools thrived and businesses are slowly coming back.

"This town certainly stuck through," Dr Fraser says of Marysville.

"Some people left and never came back, but this town has really got it together. The town is doing very well."

And although Marysville's population has dropped from 450 in 2009 to around 300 today, the locals drove its revival.

"At one stage, there was talk about razing the place and never rebuilding, but that government idea was soon squashed," Dr Fraser says.

Dr Fraser is a beneficiary of the fires, rewarded for his part in helping the town's revival after losing his home and medical practice.

While organising the Marysville marathon weeks after the fires, he met a nurse who came to help, they fell in love, married and two years later welcomed a baby girl.

"She helped out, and the rest is history," he says.

Even though dire conditions were expected on the day, the ferocity of the fires caught everyone by surprise.

At around 10pm on Black Saturday, Victoria's assistant police commissioner Kieran Walshe gravely declared 14 people had died and the toll could rise to as high as 40.

Even he, like the rest of the country, was oblivious to the horror being unleashed as he spoke.

It wasn't until light broke the following day that the savagery of the fires was revealed.

"Hell and all its fury has visited the good people of Victoria in the last 24 hours," then prime minister Kevin Rudd said as he toured the fire-ravaged Yarra Valley.

At one stage, authorities put the death toll at 210 - in many cases Disaster Victims Identification teams couldn't tell the difference between human and animal remains and couldn't tell how many victims the charred bones belonged to.

It took weeks until the official figure settled at 173.

The fatal conditions had been brewing for some time.

On February 1, the Sunday, fires in Gippsland razed more than 6,000 acres and 29 houses near the townships of Boolarra, Yinnar and Mirboo North.

The heat intensified all week and by the Friday, then premier John Brumby warned Saturday's horror fire weather had the potential to kill.

"It's just going to be, probably by a long way, the worst day ever in the history of the state in terms of temperatures and winds," he said.

After an uncomfortable night, the state woke on Saturday to nine major fires burning out of control as Melbourne reached its hottest ever temperature of 46.4 degrees, while nearby Avalon recorded the state's high of 47.9, fanned by 100 km/h winds.

Despite the conditions, many caught in the fires and families of victims were critical of the inadequate warnings issued by authorities, the flawed 'stay or go' policy and the perennial issue of fuel reduction.

All were carefully scrutinised in the 155 days of the $40 million Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission which recommended major changes to warning systems and ensured Victorians would in future be told to leave a threatened home early.

The commission found the Kilmore East fire which consumed Kinglake and killed 119 people, destroyed more than 1000 homes and 125,000 hectares was started by a faulty power line.

The ensuing Kilmore East-Kinglake class action settled for $495 million in late 2014, the biggest class action in Australian history, and while power distributor SP Ausnet paid its $378m share, it denied liability.

While money has helped in the practical recovery and hope and community spirit help the spiritual recovery, even 10 years isn't long enough to completely heal the wounds.

"We still have our problems," says Marysville businessman Tony Thompson.

"While a lot of us travel along very well, you don't have to scratch the surface too far before it starts to become raw again."

Australian Associated Press