Our summer of smoke and fire

Updated

It was a season that many of us will never forget. Not just because of the widespread destruction, but also because of the many acts of bravery, generosity and resilience that have been on display.

A man who gave his name as Mark shelters with his child in Bega, NSW.

Richard Coleman pictured in front of his home near Nowra, NSW.

Simon Oken and his father, Boo, didn't think they would survive the fire that engulfed them in Lithgow, NSW.

A kangaroo is caught in a paddock fire on the outskirts of Lithgow, NSW.

The scorched road leading to Bundanon, NSW.

Kangaroo Island locals Simone Krohn and Jonny Glyne lost their property in the blaze.

A man hands out water bottles to firefighters near Bilpin, NSW.

Matt and Katie Zagami lost their Wairewa home to the fires in East Gippsland, Victoria.

Firefighters watch a shed burn in Penrose, NSW.

A couple seeks refuge in an evacuation centre in Bega, NSW.

A scorched road sign on the Princes Highway south of Nowra, NSW.

An exhausted firefighter takes a breather in Penrose, NSW.

A sign at the Buddhist monastery in Bundanoon, NSW.

Kynan Lang kneels in front of a memorial to his uncle and cousin who were killed in the Kangaroo Island bushfires.

Heavy smoke from Victoria's bushfires left the Melbourne CBD shrouded in smoke.

A Humane Society worker lending a much-needed hand to a koala on Kangaroo Island.

The eerie aftermath of the Kangaroo Island fires.

RAAF pilots on their way to Corryong in Victoria's north-east to assist the fire-damaged town.

A wild horse in Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, searching for food.

Bill McNamara drops off a load of hay at a fodder donation station just outside of Bairnsdale, in Gippsland.

An anxious wait for those surrounded by fire at Narooma on the NSW South Coast.

An ominous scene from Fisherman's Paradise on the NSW South Coast.

Marian Brandum from Metung, Victoria escaped the bushfire with her collection of pets.

A firefighter battles a blaze on the outskirts of greater Sydney.

For firefighters in NSW, it was a relentless start to the fire season.

Hundreds gather at Mount Gulaga on Yuin country in NSW for a ceremony to heal land, spirit and people.

Sydney left blanketed in smoke during the bushfire emergency.

Wildlife campaigner Josey Sharrad with Bear, one of only a handful of dogs trained to detect injured koalas.

The sun rises over Brisbane as bushfire smoke blankets the city.

Roger Draper is back in the Rural Fire Brigade shed after fighting the blaze at Woodgate.

Firefighters at work in Gospers Mountain near Lithgow, NSW.

The destroyed remains of a van at Rainbow Flat, NSW.

SES worker Rosina Nicholas in tears as she speaks about the carnage of the fires at Bobin, NSW.

Port Macquarie on the NSW coast turns orange as an emergency warning is issued by firefighters in the area.

A home burns in the fire-ravaged town of Rappville in northern NSW.

Credits

These photographs were taken by ABC photographers and contributors including:

Brendan Esposito, James Carmody, Greg Nelson, Kath Sullivan, Matt Roberts, Adriane Reardon, Claire Campbell, Haidarr Jones,

Tim Fernandez, Brittany Evins, Erin Somerville, Karen Percy, Tim Swanston, Athina Skagias, Elise Kinsella, Jonathan Hair,

Vanessa Milton, Sarah Gerathy, Sally Rafferty, Shelley Lloyd, Brad Marsellos, Lily Mayers, Mridula Amin, Jake Lapham,

Nick Wylie, Martin Von Stoll and Matt Coble.

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Topics: disasters-and-accidents, fires, bushfire, environment, environmental-health, health, climate-change, australia, act, nsw, qld, sa, vic

First posted