Summary

Digital photograph of spot fires taken by Robin McDonald at her beef property at Rosewhite, in Happy Valley, north east Victoria in February-July 2009.

Robin and her husband David, have been farming on this property since 1963, and were directly affected by the 2009 February bushfires which started in the early hours of Sunday 8th February 2009.

This photograph is part of the Victorian Bushfires Collection and is supported by an oral and video interview undertaken with Robin and David McDonald.

Description of Content

View from the house garden, during the outbreak of the 'Black Saturday' bushfires. Pot plants from the verandah were relocated away from the house and placed in the garden. Spot fires can be seen across the paddocks. Garden hoses are laid out and made ready to protect the house. 'My daughter Odette and I had relocated wooden outdoor furniture and door mats etc to an inside store room. Baby Sacha 10 months was wakeful and aware something unusual was happenning, he refused to go down again to sleep. At one time I had to put him unceromonously down on the floor to run to a burning ember in the paddock outside with a a bucket of water'. - [Robin McDonald, 19 Aug 2010].

Physical Description

Colour digital photograph

Significance

This collection of photographs contributes to understanding the experience of primary producers during the 2009 February bushfires. They particularly document the fires in north east Victoria, which were known as the Beechworth fires. These fires were responsible for the destruction of the greatest amount of public and private land in Victoria during the 2009 bushfires, and raise many issues and themes specific to the geographic nature of this area.

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