Community reflections on recovery For many people, remembering their experiences and providing their feedback about what happened after the fires was traumatic and emotional. However, there was a strong desire to share with IGEM those aspects of recovery that have worked well and those that have not. Community told IGEM about their recovery experiences up to a point in time, for some people up to 15 months after the fires. IGEM recognises that for many people their recovery may only just be starting and can take many years. While discussion focused on recovery, IGEM notes that this recovery occurred in the midst of another major emergency – the COVID-19 pandemic. Communities were grappling with both emergencies concurrently, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting recovery from the fires. Community members offered suggestions and ideas for how recovery programs, services and activities could be improved in the future with the hope that this information could benefit others.
Feedback and stories were gathered via written submissions, surveys, interviews, focus groups and community meetings. IGEM heard many similar stories across fire-affected areas and several consistent themes emerged, which are highlighted in this section through the use of quotes. Images in this section are illustrative of these themes, and do not represent those providing quotes. In documenting this information, IGEM considered the eight recovery principles as outlined in the Recovery Framework prepared by BRV. Challenges faced by the community, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on recovery and what the community would like to see done differently in the future are also discussed. This is what the community shared with IGEM.
