After the fire
James Gentle, after the February bushfire in Denmark, WA
It was just a few weeks after the Denmark bushfires that I visited musician, artist and environmentalist James Gentle at home. It was a mix of good luck and James’s huge efforts that his house was not on the list of those lost in the fires. All that’s left of his caravan, however, is a patch of ash with melted metal and glass sculpted by intense heat.
As we walked together around the bush block, west of town, we were encouraged by a little early regrowth. What was once dense foliage is now charred and skeletal but already the resilient ferns are starting to bring back green to the landscape, and the beautiful, slender Kingia are in bloom.
