An Upper Murray resident hopes scrap metal forged during Black Summer's fierce fire can be used to form a lasting tribute to the firefighters who risked their lives to fight the 'beast'.
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Walwa's Janice Newnham, treasurer of Jingellic Hub which manages the Showgrounds, is fundraising in the hopes of commissioning Andrew Whitehead to create a firefighter sculpture to commemorate the summer's bushfires.
"The whole disaster, the bushfire and coupled with COVID-19 has created a real blackness in our community," she said. "I think our community needs something positive to focus on.
"So many people have been impacted by the fires.... there's a lot of tragedy and drama. I just thought perhaps if people could dig around in the ashes of their property and find metallic objects they might be able to contribute them."
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Ms Newnham said the statue would commemorate what was lost but also celebrate the community's resilience.
"We're so grateful to our volunteer firefighters," she said. "Clearly there were paid firefighters here... but the major impact was our volunteers who were here at the beginning and stuck with us right through the whole disaster.
"Most of our volunteers are farmers and [the fire] had a massive impact on their own property yet they were going out everyday and trying to control the 'beast' that was the bushfire."
Ms Newnham said about $30,000 was needed for the sculpture and installation. She is going to investigate grant options but has also launched a go fund me campaign.
Mr Whitehead said he was excited about the prospect of a sculpture showing the stress and resilience of volunteers.