Only days into summer and our district, together with communities across New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia have suffered loss and destruction from bushfires.
The loss of two homes, damage to another, and destruction of other properties’ outbuildings and vehicles at Henley Ridge has shocked our community and led to an outpouring of heartfelt messages of support to victims.
There will be no doubt plenty of support in the days and weeks that follow, as the wider community looks to help Markwood residents directly and indirectly impacted recover from what has been a terrifying experience.
The sheer speed of the blaze and danger of the terrain in which it was able to lay siege to the community was part of the inherent risk of summer.
In the last few days we’ve seen it play out in communities across the country.
In Geraldton in WA a fire, believed to have been deliberately lit, destroyed one home and threatened many others.
Tasmania last week had 30 blazes burning, the worst of which at Dolphin Sands on the east coast saw at least 19 houses and shacks damaged or destroyed by fire.
And over the weekend some 16 homes were lost as bushfires burnt across the NSW Mid North and Central Coasts.
In fact NSW had more than 75 bushfires burning on Saturday.
Losses in the Markwood fire could have been significantly greater if not for the effort of firefighters.
We remain eternally grateful to crews for what they do, as we enter what is expected to be a long and dangerous summer.
