Airdate: Seven News: Hellfire: The Battle of Cobargo

Next week Seven News screens a special Hellfire: The Battle of Cobargo.

The haunting images and sounds of this Australian summer shocked the world and will long endure in the memories of a heartbroken continent.

The bushfire that tore through Cobargo in south-east NSW in the fading hours of last year was unlike any in recent memory. Like other fires that raged in every state and territory this summer, it spread with greater speed, reach and intensity than anyone can remember in Australia’s modern history. Conditions were unstoppable, and in far too many cases, un-survivable.

Through eyewitness accounts and never-before-seen video from the fire front, this 7NEWS special documentary, Hellfire: The Battle of Cobargo, plots those fateful minutes in frightening detail and examines not only how this fire became so deadly – but why.

As the fire front moves to the corridors of power, with the federal government preparing to launch its sixth royal commission no less, 7NEWS investigative reporter Denham Hitchcock exposes the warning signs and the inaction and calls on experts, firefighters and the Prime Minister for answers.

“We spoke with everyone from the firefighting chiefs on the ground with 40 years’ experience, to the people who faced the inferno; we should have known this was coming and we should have stopped it, long before it started,” said Hitchcock.

“Some stories really hit you and for me, this is one of those. This documentary will stand you on the front line with those who stood their ground, put an arm around those who lost it all, and more importantly demand the same mistakes that led to this firestorm, aren’t made again.”

And there is one story from beneath those black skies that has not yet been told.

It is the story of young mum Renee Salway and her three-year-old son, Harley – a little boy whose father and grandfather laid down their lives to protect their family and their farm.

A family that emerged from the flames broken but not broken apart – held together instead by hope and the memory of Patrick and Robert.

Theirs is a tale written in the bush but one which speaks on behalf of a nation.

9pm Tuesday on Seven.