MELBOURNE—The town has only just been reopened to the public after weeks of police lockdown. The painful search for the remains of residents who did not escape the inferno has finally been closed. However, although the fires are out and the police tape is gone, the emotional damage is still very real.
The inferno, dubbed “Black Saturday” by the media, resulted in Australia’s highest ever loss of life from a bushfire – 210 were killed. Kinglake was one of the towns worst hit by the fires with at least 38 people dead and over 500 homes destroyed.
The area has been closed to the public since February 7, allowing police to search for and locate human remains. On Tuesday, March 17, the roadblocks finally came down.
Not everybody was happy, with some residents reportedly yelling angrily at a film crew recording the event.
For Kinglake resident Sue Perry, the reopening of the town comes as a welcome relief.
“I’d love to be protected a bit longer, like a lot of people, but its definitely time ... it means people from outside Kinglake who have offered help can actually come and help now.”
Ms. Perry told of the community’s emotional and practical recovery being put on hold because of the roadblocks and forensic investigations. Property owners have been unable to search the ruins for precious belongings.
“People haven’t been able to move anything from their blocks. They haven’t had a chance to go through the rubble, do their grieving and celebrate finds and stuff.”
Things have changed with the lifting of the roadblocks,” she said. “They feel elation at finding something whole and they’re grieving over the things that aren’t.”
Many residents are happy to have the town open again, but have called on the public to be considerate of the locals.
“We certainly need support from people, but they’ll need to be patient with us because we’re still pretty raw and we’re still pretty shell-shocked and still trying to get it all together,” publican Sharon McCulloch told Fairfax Media.
