4 Corners: In the Eye of the Storm
For the first time, Four Corners shows footage taken by a survivor standing in the centre of Marysville oval as the town burned around him.
- Published by David Knox
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On Monday Four Corners looks at a very personal story of the fire that devastated the iconic Victorian town of Marysville on Black Saturday, in a story by Liz Jackson.
For those that stayed during the fires, the only sanctuary was the town’s oval.
Now, for the first time, Four Corners shows the footage taken by a survivor standing in the centre of the oval as the town burned around him.
34 men, women and children lost their lives in a fire that police now believe was deliberately lit.
CFA volunteer fire fighter David MacKenzie was one of the people first on the scene after the fire was reported. He describes in chilling detail the moments when it began to move towards Marysville: “Well it had only just took off, so it was gathering momentum as it went and um it was just fanning out slowly that way, but basically the front of the fire was flying over as it would be with that wind.”
The episode also hears from the CFA Group Officer and Deputy Incident Controller Peter Rice who says his efforts to fight the fire were frustrated by telephone and 2-way radio congestion.
Captain of the Marysville CFA Glen Fiske adds, “I would have dearly loved to got a lot more people out of the place. But I didn’t. I had no idea of the size of of what it was we were facing.”
As the Royal Commission now unfolds, ‘In The Eye of the Storm’ could well be compelling viewing.
It airs Monday 27th April at 8.30pm on ABC1 and will be replayed at 11.35pm on Tuesday 28th April.
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One Response
I’m sure it will be interesting viewing. Four Corners has a point-of-difference on the likes of Sunday Night/60 minutes in that it dedicates its entire program to one topic. This allows it to be more in-depth with the topic instead of merely sensationalist grabs. Local radio ABC has proved (as did its rise to #1 station in Melbourne over the bushfire period) that when it dedicates to its resources to a story it is excellent in its news coverage. If only, the Government allocated more money to ABC1 (and adequetly to ABC2 and upcoming ABC3 , I’m sure its TV coverage could be even better.