FIRE STORIES

Since 2012, the Institute has worked in partnership with the NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Blue Mountains City Council to produce a series of informative and engaging documentaries about fire.

FIRE STORIES : A LESSON IN TIME

The first documentary, Fire Stories: A Lesson in Time, was released in 2013.

This film explores the impacts of the catastrophic fires in 1957 on the Blue Mountains community in Leura. The film documents the fire and its toll by tracing the stories behind an ill-prepared yet heroic community who faced these fires and then coped with the tragic aftermath. The lessons from 55 years ago will help us to better prepare the Blue Mountains community to deal with fire in the future.

fire stories: living with risk

The second documentary, Fire Stories: Living with Risk, was released in 2017.

This film explores the 2013 bush fires that devastated the Blue Mountains townships of Winmalee and Yellow Rock, and documents the recovery of the community afterwards.

By combining candid interviews with residents, raw footage from the day of the fire and practical advice for people living in a bushfire prone area, this film provides rare and valuable insights into a community experience of surviving and then rebuilding after a bush fire.

PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS

2018. Fire Stories - Living with risk: impact and evaluation study.

2017. Communicating bushfire risk in the Blue Mountains: a case study of the Fire Stories film Reference: Chapple, R.S., Blignault, I., Fitzgerald, A. 2017. ‘Communicating bushfire risk in the Blue Mountains: a case study of the Fire Stories film’, Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 32 (3): 58-66.

2016. Can place attachment mediate perceptions of bushfire risk? A case study of the Blue Mountains, NSW. Reference: Ratnam, C., Drozdzewski, D., Chapple, R. 'Can place attachment mediate perceptions of bushfire risk? A case study of the Blue Mountains, NSW', Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 31 (4): 62-66.