Book review: A Walkley Award winning life story about living with fire and climate change
Currowan: The Story of a Fire and a Community During Australia’s Worst Summer is a terrifying tale.
It was written by journalist Bronwyn Adcock who fled the inferno with her children while her husband went to fight at the front.
This Black Inc read tells her story, plus those of many others, and won the 2022 Walkley Awards Book Award.
So keep reading to learn more about this memoir, why it is a must-read and what we can apply to our own life-story projects …
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What Currowan is all about
Currowan starts out by explaining how the fire was started by lightning in a remote forest.
Next it grows by consuming drought-hit land for weeks.
Before long it strikes farms, bush properties and whole communities.
In total it consumes nearly 5000 sq km of land, destroying well over 500 homes and leaving many people shattered.
“When I tracked back to the birth of the Currowan fire, I was struck by the blind spot – the fork of lightning responsible for the fire came down around midnight, yet no one saw a thing until nearly fourteen hours later, when it had transformed into an out-of-control bushfire that was chasing the loggers from the forest.”
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Interesting parts of the book
There are many hair-raising parts to Currowan such as how firefighters report the nature of fire becoming more extreme and harder to control.
For example, the growing trend of once rare pyrocumulonimbus storms, also known as fire storms.
Indeed these are so powerful they can flip 10-ton fire trucks!
But perhaps the most notable parts of this book are the first-hand accounts of ordinary Australians who bravely defend properties and go to extraordinary lengths to save others.
“Both Paul and his partner are on a hose, actively firefighting. But now a third reach is coming up the hill through the forest towards them and they must judge if it’s time to retreat to their fire bunker. Too soon and they could leave their home unnecessarily vulnerable; too late and they could get hit by radiant heat as they travel the ten metres between the house and the bunker.”
How Currowan can help creators
Currowan offers up many teaching points for life-story creators.
Most importantly it is a wonderful example of dramatic structure.
Indeed this book’s plot speeds along like a blockbuster action movie!
Second there are some fantastic examples of raw and emotional dialogue and colourful Aussie slang.
Also I think the use of fire maps at the start of some chapters really helps tell the story and gives extra detail.
“When Charlie steps inside the Rural Fire Service command van at Milton Showground, he’s shocked to see that the divisional commander, John Ashton – ‘a firefighting legend in our neck of the woods’ – has tears running down his face. Ashton is at breaking point. He’s already had to ring the fire control centre in Nowra to tell them he can’t accept any more triple-zero calls because he has no assets left…”
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Final say
Currowan: The Story of a Fire and a Community During Australia’s Worst Summer by Bronwyn Adcock will blow your mind about the intensity of fire.
It also shows the heroic grit, ingenuity and compassion of individuals plus communities up against a blaze with never-before-seen power.
Certainly pick up this book if you want to know how our climate is changing.
And ultimately what you can do to prepare and help.
Happy writing and reading!
“As the royal commission put it: ‘Catastrophic fire conditions may render traditional bushfire prediction models and firefighting techniques less effective.’ We will be facing fires where all we can do is flee.”
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