Tasmanian bushfire horror preserved in story map to engage the young
Updated
Memories of the 1967 Black Tuesday bushfires are still vividly etched into the minds of many Tasmanians.
Survivor stories have been well documented over the past 50 years, but now the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) has created a digital story map as a modern way to remember.
Part of the aim of the project is to engage young people who might be less likely to pick up the history from reading books or papers.
On February 7,1967, the heat and strong winds fanned 110 fires in southern Tasmania, scorching more than 2,500 square kilometres of land.
Within five hours, 62 people had been killed, hundreds injured, and 1,400 buildings destroyed.
Robert Vincent was 20 when he watched his Sandy Bay home burn down.
"The sparks are just intense and they come horizontally, just like that, at you," he said.
"They burnt your nylon clothes, so the next day you haven't got clothes to stand up in.
"In fact you had to borrow clothes.
"I watched my curtains in the bedroom on the first floor just melt.
"It was very, very emotional."
Mr Vincent is one of nearly 150 people who have shared their story to mark the fire's upcoming 50th anniversary.
Tasmanian Fire Service (TFS) community development officer Lesley King has spent the past year putting together a video record of people's recollections.
"The stories are always very powerful because people tell them like they were yesterday," she said.
"The smell of smoke, seeing smoke can take them back."
TFS district officer Gerald Crawford has been with the service for 45 years.
He has shared his memories as a 14-year-old on Black Tuesday.
"It was very hot, very smoky, the smoke was extremely thick to see from one side of the street to the other you were looking through smoke," he said.
"The power was down, telephone lines were down, there were no communications. The only information people were getting was via the radio.
"It was a very scary time."
It is hoped the online story map will engage younger audiences.
"I think for current generations and future generations it will be a way of looking back on those times to see what it was like, and what impact it had on Tasmania," Mr Crawford said.
"If you listen to all the messages, in lots of cases you can picture yourself being there on the day and imagine what it was like."
Mr Crawford said the events of 1967 were now used as a motivator for communities to remain bushfire-ready.
"Clean up around your building, make sure you've got a plan, and listen and take the advice of Tasmania Fire Service and other emergency services," he said.
Stories will continue to be added to the online resource until the end of next year.
Topics: fires, disasters-and-accidents, tas
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