Sarah mitchell, Our home town (PLACES 2022)

I watched this disaster, I watched the fire burn, jump tree to tree. I watched onwards as the aircrafts dropped thousands of litres of water, one tank after another. I watched the ground team scramble in an organised chaos. Emergency services protecting and serving. I watched onwards as the crowd numbers grew, the community gathered to watch in disbelief as a part of our home glowed a fierce array of oranges, reds and yellows. The sky filling with smoke so thick that the sun rays struggle to even penetrate. While leaving hectares upon hectares black with nothing but ash and debris. A bushfire that will now go into our history. From darkness will come light, seeds will be sown, and life will regrow. Our now black mountain sides will turn green again.

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