FireWise Expo brings Megalong Valley community together
Highlights from the 2023 Megalong Valley FireWise Expo
Following the success of last year’s first ever Megalong Valley Community Expo, this year’s FireWise Expo aimed to put bushfire preparedness at the front of residents’ minds.
Claudia Abbott, Vice President of the Megalong Valley Community and Landowners Association said; “today was about bringing the community together to get to know each other and to put fire front of mind again. It’s been a wet couple of years so it’s been low on the priority list but now we’re facing a pretty decent season ahead potentially and it’s important to put fire front of mind. There are also a lot of new people in the Valley that may not have been here in the 2019/2020 season so [it’s an opportunity] for them to learn about what they can do to prepare and also to get to know each other [so they can] help each other out in times of crisis.”
This year's event drew crowds from throughout the Blue Mountains and Sydney regions and featured an incredible array of speakers who spoke to a packed room of highly engaged residents and community members. These included Gundungurra woman Kelsie King who spoke about cultural burning and shared stories from her culture and upbringing while local architect Simon Anderson who has built his own off-grid, bushfire proof house in the Valley talked about building for bushfires. Other notable speakers included Kevin McCusker and Karen Cody from ABCD Inc (Association of Bell, Clarence and Dargan) who talked about their community’s recovery from the 2019/2020 bushfires and Lisa Goodchild who spoke about how to keep pets and animals safe in emergencies.
Representatives from Endeavour Energy and Pulse First Aid also gave highly informative and entertaining presentations.
Outside the community hall, a marque was set up so that local service providers could meet with local residents. These providers included Resilient Villages, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Peppercorn Services, Blue Mountains City Council, Red Cross, Greater Sydney Local Land Services, Blackheath Area Neighbourhood Centre, Upper Macquarie County Council, the Megalong Valley Volunteer Fire Brigade, Blue Mountains Fire Control, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Endeavour Energy.
The event also included a free community lunch, coffee cart and drumming workshop.
Vikky Rivas an attendee at the event said of the Expo; “It’s so important for people to come and get information about bushfires and [be able to] come together as a community, it’s a big social event as well where we can learn as much as we can to keep ourselves, our property and each other safe.”
The event was made possible thanks to a team of dedicated volunteers led by local residents Pru Jobling, Rod Hill, Malcolm Scott and Yvonne Austin.
The project was primarily funded by the Bushfire Community Recovery and Resilience Fund project through the joint Commonwealth/State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. Although funding for this product has been provided by both the Australian and NSW Governments, the material contained herein does not necessarily represent the views of either government.
More images from the day can be viewed here: https://resilientvillages.au/gallery
