By JESSE GRAHAM
FIVE years after a fire-storm tore its way through the area, Malcolm Calder is very aware of the capabilities of the area when it comes to bushfires.
Reflecting on the day that saw thousands of homes destroyed and 173 people lose their life, Mr Calder said the hot, dry winds that have been blowing through January come with a reminder of their danger.
“I don’t appreciate hot, northerly winds – I never did – but they have a more sinister meaning than they had,” he said.
A Steels Creek resident, Mr Calder saved two houses with his son, James, on their property during the inferno five years ago.
Though he said he will be attending the Black Saturday Memorial event in Yarra Glen, he remarked that the event has now passed from a present-thought into his past.
“Generally, I think that, as time goes by, it passes into your personal history – it becomes something that happened,” he said.
Mr Calder said that he could not speak for the wider community, however, which still contains many people coping with what they experienced and lost during the tragedy on 7 February 2009.
“Everyone is differently affected,” he said.
“They are recovering at different rates – it’s hard to know.
“Anyone looking at me would say ‘you’re back to normal’, but you’re never the same.”
Mr Calder said that it was a milestone memorial year for the event, but said it would be hard to reflect and commemorate the time passed when the hot, dry conditions seem so similar to that of the Black Saturday bushfires.
The fires destroyed 2100 homes and left 7562 people displaced, with 10 lives lost in Steels Creek alone.
For more information on the Yarra Glen memorial event, turn to page 5.
