Among the blackened skeletons of trees there is new growth and within that is two neighbouring communities recovering from a fire which took 37 lives and more than 100 homes.
Colourful mosaic letterboxes, handmade by Strathewen students line the hills and a new primary school sits central in the town.
Opposite the school is the CFA Strathewen shed, which also has a story to tell about the fires of February 2009.
The shed – a satellite fire station of Arthurs Creek Fire Brigade – was the only public building left standing in the town after the fires ripped through Strathewen and up to
Because of this, the shed became a central hub for residents stranded behind the p
“It was basically an internet café, a laundromat, a place for storing food and everything in between,” Arthurs Creek Captain Michael Chapman said.
“It was just a shed that garaged a truck but following those fires it became much, much more.”
Because of this, Strathewen Community Renewal Association Inc. approached Hallam-based commercial construction company, Becon, with a proposal to do something for the satellite fire station.
“Becon was doing work in Strathewen with the rebuild of the primary school and that’s how it all came about,” Mr Chapman said.
Recently, Becon Constructions completed an upgrade at the Strathewen shed which sees an extension comprising a new meeting room, kitchen facilities, a toilet and heating and cooling.
“It means that we can now have people in the shed in relative comfort,” Mr Chapman said.
“The Strathewen satellite station is critical in that it means we have a truck and a group of volunteers who are quickly able to respond to any type of incident in the area.
“It takes members from
The upgrade at the shed was fully-funded by Becon Constructions who, with assistance from their suppliers and sub-contractors, also completed the work in its own time.
“We’d done work on the primary school and still wanted to contribute, but in a more practical way than donating money,” Becon Constructions Estimator Jason Brilli said.
“We’d got to know the people of Strathewen quite well and we wanted to do more for the community.”
Mr Brilli said the majority of the work was done after-hours and during staff members' rostered days off.
“We even had a few guys based in the office get back out in the field for the job – but all our workers were only too happy to help out and it’s something we couldn’t have done without those people and without the support and generosity from our suppliers and sub-contractors.”
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