Denmark residents affected by the bushfire share stories at emotional community debrief meeting

More than 100 Shire of Denmark residents whose properties were damaged by last month’s bushfire gathered for a community meeting at the Somerset Hill fire shed last Thursday night.

The meeting was held exclusively for residents and property owners who were directly affected by the bushfire that destroyed four homes and damaged another earlier this month.

The blaze, which started on the morning of February 4 near the intersection of Bayview Rise and McLeod Street in Shadforth, caused widespread power outages and burned through about 2150ha over the next three days.

Fifty-three homes were saved as the fire put the townsite of Denmark on high alert.

The incident was finally deemed “all clear” by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services on Friday, February 25 — three weeks after the fire started.

At Thursday’s meeting, residents heard from representatives from DFES, Denmark police, the Shire of Denmark and volunteer brigades.

They shared harrowing personal stories with the emergency response crews to guide future bushfire preparedness, response and recovery.

Shire president Ceinwen Gearon said the stories shared at the meeting were confronting.

“This is an incredibly difficult time for our community, particularly for those who suffered damage to their properties and homes,” she said.

“Last night’s meeting was emotionally charged, but I hope those who attended felt like they were heard, that the representatives from DFES, police and the Shire tried to answer questions to the best of their ability and that lessons learned were voiced and captured.

“As we move further into the recovery phase and as impacted residents continue to live with spot fires in their paddocks and smouldering bushland near their homes, the Shire of Denmark team will continue to offer support where we can.”

Volunteer organiser BlazeAid will be coming to Denmark to boost the recovery effort in coming weeks.

Shire deputy chief executive David King said the BlazeAid volunteers would provide the people power to help with the removal and rebuilding of damaged fencing.

“Right now, the Shire is managing a damaged fencing register to capture the amount of fencing assistance required and when BlazeAid arrives their coordinator will take over to manage the volunteering effort,” he said.

“In the meantime, we’re encouraging farmers to get materials ready to go so when the volunteers arrive, they can get to work as quickly as possible on getting new fences up.”