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On Saturday, 7th of February, 2009, several bushfires raged through Victoria causing the loss of many lives and massive damage to property.

As an Army Reservist, I was given the opportunity to help, as the army had been requested by the state government for support in the crisis, and by the following Friday, I was in the Kinglake district. The level of devastation was unbelievable.  Even though there had been a large media presence, I could not comprehend the size and ferocity of the fires that had been through the area.

Our first task on the ground was to help the Police in the damage assessment, which involved going to each property and recording the location, and level of damage that had occurred. Almost all the properties we went to were completely destroyed, with only a few houses left standing, and even fewer sheds. It was also eerily quiet, the only people we saw were from town who had come to provide feed for the animals that had survived.

Our second task, once the searching was complete, was to travel around to the people who were still around, and see what their immediate priorities were. This information was gathered together, and used to allocate the necessary resources to those who needed it the most. This gave us a great opportunity to meet the people around the affected areas, who were amazing. They are some of the kindest and most generous people I have met, and despite what they had just gone through, were constantly offering us tea and coffee, or a cold beer!