BUSHFIRE SURVIVORS FOR CLIMATE ACTION (BSCA) member Jack Egan has had his fire-melted tinny, the ‘We Want Climate Action’ boat, collected for preservation in the National Museum of Australia.
The dinghy was one of the last objects left standing after he lost his North Rosedale, NSW, home during the summer fires.
Mr Egan said the event marked an important occasion: “It marks the historic devastation and tragedy that was Black Summer. It marks that the new ferocities of the recent long drought and shocking fires was climate-driven. And it marks the historic groundswell grassroots community movement for climate action,” Mr Egan said.
The Climate Action boat was one of the few things left standing when Mr Egan and his partner Cath Bowdler lost their Rosedale home on New Years’ Eve, 2019. Mr Egan stayed to defend his property, but was overwhelmed by the ferocity of the blaze.
His full story has been published on the Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action website.
Mr Egan was joined on the day by Nathan Harris, who originally painted the boat with Jack.
“Last December I was here sitting out on the back deck with Cath and Jack. We talked about what was happening with the fires to the north. Having been a Forest Officer, I felt I had something to offer. But none of us could have predicted the ferocity, the extent, the strangeness of the fires that were to come,” Mr Harris said.
Michelle Hamrosi, local GP and Member of Parents for Climate Action, and Jed Johnson, President of Climate Action Now Signs, were also at the event.
About Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action:
BSCA was founded shortly after the Tathra and District fire in March 2018 to raise the voices of people impacted by bushfires. Our members are people who lost their homes, communities, loved ones and peace of mind in bushfires; people who’ve fought fires as RFS or other volunteers, community leaders concerned about the impact and growing risks of bushfires and primary producers who’ve watched stock and wildlife impacted by bushfires and their after-effects. We are old, young, teachers, community workers, artists, councillors, writers, parents and children.
