Q&A with Lyn Gunter: Surviving a Bushfire

The "Black Saturday" bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were one of Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest-ever loss of human life from a bushfire, with 173 fatalities. Over 3500 homes were burned to the ground leaving many people homeless as a result. More than 1 million acres of land were burned up. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard described Black Saturday as "a tragedy beyond belief, beyond precedent and beyond words … one of the darkest days in Australia’s peacetime history." And at the centre of this disaster was Lyn Gunter, mayor of the Murrindindi council where the bushfires occurred. In this emotional interview that takes us back to the devastation that occurred in the now 15th year anniversary of the tragedy, we discover how Lyn's past prepared her to take on a role of this nature, how she pulled herself together to lead in a time of crisis, and the lessons she learned looking back on the event. You won't want to miss it! I'll see you there...