‘I realised if I stay here and wait for the fire to come to me, it’s going to be that much bigger and more dangerous.’

With very little personal experience of fires before 2019, Ivy Young was instrumental in the community response to the Mt Nardi fire. Helping to organise support (boots on the ground), clearing trails with her trusty McLeod tool, putting out fires that had flared up in the weeks after. On New Year’s Eve, after the fires had died down in her own area, Ivy set off with her new found skills (and tools) to help her parents when their property was threatened in the Bega Valley. 

Recordist, interviewer and editor, Jarrah Dundler. Sound designer and mixer, Chris Wesely.