Bushfire Commemorative Service
More than 100 people attended a commemorative service to mark three years since Black Saturday.
The service on Sunday, 5 February 2012 at the Victorian Art Centre, was organised by the Fire Recovery Unit, which replaced the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (VBRRA), to assist with ongoing recovery of bushfire affected communities.
The bushfires of 7 February 2009 devastated 109 towns and 33 communities, with 173 lives lost. More than 1,500 houses were lost and over 430,000 hectares of land burnt.
Black Saturday wrote itself into Victoria’s history with record-breaking weather conditions and bushfires of a scale and ferocity that tested human endurance.
Victorian Premier, Ted Baillieu and Deputy Premier and Minister for Bushfire Response, Peter Ryan joined Reverend Jim Pilmer, retired Victoria Police Chaplain, to pay tribute to those who had lost their lives in the tragedy, during the third anniversary commemorative service.
Reverend Pilmer spoke of the healing process and hope for the future, while Mr Baillieu reinforced the State Government's continuing support for all Victorians affected by the fires.
Mr Ryan read moving extracts from a book written by fire-affected authors, while musicians Eliza Venville, Lucy McKenzie-McHarg and Steve Doyle, who were also affected the devastating fires, performed on the day.