When the Smoke Clears

Every so often, Cameron would stop the patrol car and wind down the window. There was absolute silence except for the ringing in his ears. It was like the end of the world. As millions of Victorians were getting ready for bed on 7 February 2009, thankful their state had survived the hottest day on record, they had little knowledge of what was unfolding just an hour's drive north of Melbourne on the Great Dividing Range. In Kinglake, no dogs barked. There were no sounds of traffic. No insects, no birds. No children. Everything was gone. The houses, the sheds, the people. There was only before, and after, Black Saturday. The fires had moved with such speed and ferocity, destroying critical infrastructure and advancing faster than people could run or drive, that emergency services couldn't keep up – or reach all the threatened areas in time. The community of Kinglake was on its own. As gale-force winds and record temperatures arrived like a freight train, unleashing a firestorm that claimed 173 lives and erased the town in minutes, Senior Constable Cameron Caine was one of only two local police officers on duty. Amidst the ash and silence, his wife Laura was with tradie Ross Buchanan when he learned that two of his children, Neeve and Mackenzie, were in a house where five people had perished. It was supposed to be the safest house in one of the safest streets. When the Smoke Clears captures the enduring strength of the Kinglake community before, during and after the devastation of Black Saturday. With deep empathy and respect, Rick Wall honours the courage and vulnerability of the Caine and Buchanan families in the face of unimaginable loss. In a country facing a climate crisis with unprecedented weather events becoming ever more common, When the smoke clears reminds us of the long-lasting impact of these ferocious events, asks how we might respond to both disaster and recovery, and stand with survivors as they walk out of the fireball.