
Dr Sera Blair calls it “searching for life after a fire”. Exactly four weeks after the Gurdies fire, she and Victorian National Parks Association colleague Jordan Crook began the process of documenting the return – and survival – of wildlife.
They were not yet permitted into the Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve due to Parks Victoria’s concerns about hazardous trees, so they began work in Bass Coast Shire Council’s adjoining 52ha Native Vegetation Offset Reserve.
The fire started near the Sand Supplies quarry, and burned through this reserve on the first day, threatening homes in Woodland Close. A wind change the following day pushed it north, threatening homes along the Gurdies Road and Island View Road.