Digital Collections

Morton Fire 2020: Bushfire Archive Project

This digital collection records the Bundanoon community’s experience of Black Summer 2019/2020, as captured and recorded by the Bundanoon History Group’s (BHG) Bushfire Archive Project.

This poster was created to remind residents to prepare for fire and to convey themes that emerged during the project. It now hangs in the local RFS shed. Designer Bella Gnecchi Ruscone. Beehive Creative

The Bushfire Archive Project ran from January 2020 to June 2022. It was funded by a grant from the Oral History Society of New South Wales, supported by volunteers of the Bundanoon History Group.

Click here to read about the project, its findings and the history of fire in Bundanoon.

Video – Bundanoon Voices

Capturing oral histories formed a major component of the bushfire archive project. Despite the restrictions of COVID, BHG volunteers were able to interview 33 people to record their responses to the Morton Fire. The video contains a compilation of the voices of residents of Bundanoon together with photographs taken by members of the local rural fire service (RFS) and the Bundanoon Photography Group.

Click here to view the video

Oral Histories

Click here to browse and listen to the oral histories.

Video – Impact of the Morton 2020 Fire in Bundanoon

A BHG video about the Morton Bushfire is now stored on the Momentous website of the National Museum of Australia (NMA). The NMA invites submissions about big changes and events to help people look to the past and understand what’s happening now: much like the motivation for our own bushfire project.

Click here to view the video

Bundanoon Primary School stories

When they returned to school in early 2020, students at the Bundanoon Primary School were encouraged to talk about their experiences of the Morton 2020 bushfire. Here are stories written by children in years 2 and 3 that responded to this image.

Click here to read their stories

Video – Bundanoon Folk Festival

This video was recorded at the inaugural Bundanoon 2023 Folk Festival in November 2023 at the final concert. The concert was held at the Bundanoon School Hall and titled “The People have Songs, Tunes and Dances”. It featured local poets, musicians and their songs that reflect the people, history and places of this area. This is a performance using extracts from the Morton Fire Oral Histories.

Click here to view the video

Voices From Within – Oral Histories

An oral history project originally led by Creative Arts Batemans Bay Inc. (CABBI) and Dr Margaret Park, capturing people’s images and reflections of the 2019-2020 fires, in the Eurobodalla.

Listen to the stories of local residents and their experiences and reflections from the Black Summer Fire 2019-2020.