In 2009, following weeks of drought and extreme heat, Victoria was a tinderbox waiting for the match to fall.  The devastating bushfires that swept across Victoria on February 7, 2009, now famously known by all as Black Saturday, was the realisation of that nightmare. Just 95km from Melbourne via The Black Spur, Marysville was almost wiped from the map that day. However, Marysville has risen from the ashes in the thirteen years since then.

Black Saturday

The Black Saturday fires started on February 7, with over 400 burning across victoria. It remains the worst bushfire regarding lives lost in Australia’s history to this day. The fires followed an extreme heatwave, coupled with low humidity. This led to Melbourne enduring 43°C for three consecutive days, reaching 46°C on Saturday. As a result, Premier of the day John Brumby issued a public warning that Saturday was expected to be the “worst day for fire conditions, in the state’s history”.

On Saturday, Victorians woke to winds above 100km an hour, bringing hot air down from Central Australia. The Kilmore East/Kinglake fire began at 11.47 am when the winds brought down power lines at Kilmore East, and the sparks ignited the dry grass. Crucially, that single powerline fault led to the deaths of 119 people within hours.

Fire Outbreaks

By 1.58 pm, the Kilmore East fire had burnt through light forests and grassy paddocks. It threatened homes at Wandong before heading towards Mt Disappointment. The strong winds blew embers as far as 40 kms ahead of the main fire front, causing spot fires to break out. By 7 pm, it entered the Kinglake National Forest. As a result of a wind change, the eastern flank suddenly became the fire front, and the town of Kinglake came under heavy ember attack.

The Murrindindi fires that decimated Marysville began near the Murrindindi Mill at 3 pm before spreading through the Murrindindi State Forest and Black Range. After burning through Narbethong, it hit Marysville at 6.45 pm before burning through Buxton and Taggerty. A coronial inquest into the Murrindini fire found it began with the failure of AusNet electricity poles 5 and 6 and broken conductors lying across a fence on Wilhelmina Falls Road, Murrindindi. As a result, the fence became electrified and ignited the vegetation. This fire resulted in the loss of 500 properties and the deaths of 40 people at Marysville, Buxton and Narbethong. Ausnet settled a claim for $260m without admitting liability.

Stastistics

The statistics are heart-rending. 173 lives were lost, 120 in the Kinglake area alone. A further 414 were injured, 3,500 buildings were lost, including 2,029 homes. The RSPCA estimated up to one million wild and domestic animals perished. 200,00 trout boiled in the water at a trout farm.  Fires ranged over 450,00 hectares of land.  The 400 homes and buildings lost at Marysville included the primary school, police station, Bruno’s Garden, the Cumberland Guest House and Steavensons Falls infrastructure. Arson was the cause of most of the bushfires. However, some fires resulted from collapsed power lines in the 100km winds that day, and lightning strikes also started other fires. Burning for 26 days, the Murrindindi forefront that decimated Marysville was not extinguished until March 13.

The Kinglake Fire Complex was the most significant fire which evolved from the merging of the Kilmore East and Murrindindi fires on 8 February. It swept through state forests and national parks with flames recorded at 30 metres in height.

National Museum Australia

In the years since businesses have rebuilt, Marysville is once again a thriving community, with gardens, wineries, golf course, trout farm and galleries. Two of my favourites are Steavensons falls and Bruno’s sculpture garden.

Steavensons Falls

A short 4kms out of Marysville on the Steaveson River will bring you to one of the tallest falls in Australia. The bushfires of Black Saturday destroyed all of the picnic areas, toilet blocks, walks and paths etc. and decimated the surrounding forest.  Parks Victoria has since rebuilt new amenities blocks and added new paths and walking tracks.

The falls are an easy 700-metre walk from the carpark with improved paths and infrastructure. Steaveson Falls has five cascades and plummet 84 metres into the Steavenson River. The cross-flow turbine generates electricity and powers the lights on the falls from dusk to 11 pm.

Bruno’s Art and Sculpture Garden

It was days before the residents of Marysville were allowed back to the remains of their shattered town.  When Bruno returned, he found his Art and Sculpture Garden a blackened, charcoal wasteland.  Gone was his home, workshop, and years of work.

With the help and support of family, friends, and strangers from across the globe who had visited and loved the garden, Bruno began the painful task of rebuilding. First, Bruno repaired the Sculptures and since then added new ones. Thirteen years later, it is again a lush wonderland with barely a trace of the devastation that was. The garden is a testament to a skilled artisan’s tenacity and fertile imagination.

Where to find it?

Bruno’s Art & Sculpture Garden, 51 Falls Road Marysville, 3779

Adult entry is $10 for the garden ($15 if you include the gallery). Under 16 is $10, and for children under five, it is free.

The garden is open seven days a week from 10 am to 5 pm. The gallery is open Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.