Today is forty years since the devastating #AshWednesday #bushfire in south-western Victoria, Australia that killed 75 people around #MtGambier, #Geelong and the Western Victorian coast.

I was in grade prep, nearly 4 years old, and it was the only time my Mum kept me home from school. I remember the red dust on our old weatherboard house - an ominous, ashy glitter.

Little were we to know that just 26 years later, in 2009, Black Saturday would make Ash Wednesday pale in comparison. Geelong hit 48 C on Black Saturday. It was too hot to breathe outside.

The towns that were affected by Ash Wednesday are now home to tens of thousands of people - Anglesea, Torquay, Jan Juc, Winch, Deans Marsh - and the #Otways are overdue for a burn.

Is your bushfire plan up to date?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-16/ash-wednesday-40-years-on/101896046