FIRE STORIES: A LESSON IN TIME is back by popular demand. After the highly successful screening in Katoomba for upper mountains residents, the people of the lower Blue Mountains requested another screening.  The film showed on 27 July at the Glenbrook Cinema to full houses in two free public screenings. 

Community interest in this film has been huge.

I directed this film with the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, for Blue Mountains National Parks and the Rural Fire Service. In this half hour film, we captured the human stories surrounding the devastating 1957 bush fires which tore through Leura and Wentworth Falls in the summer of 1957-58. The film documents the fire and it’s toll by tracing the stories of 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 the Blue Mountains community to deal with fire in 2013, in a summer that may see serious bushfires. The Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute is now conducting research from feedback to gauge the effectiveness of this film in changing people’s behaviour to being more personally prepared.