Life Returns to Kinglake. Amid the destruction wrought by the bushfires, a tiny flower blooms, just one month after the flames died.

Kinglake CFA. On Black Saturday, the two CFA trucks were away fighting fires elsewhere when the firestorm hit Kinglake. With nowhere else to go, three hundred residents sheltered in this large tin shed for more than 12 hours while the fire raged in all directions around them.

The Destroyed Home of Ben

Kinglake Home Panorama. Above is a full spherical panorama taken from within the ruins of Ben’s house in Kinglake. To preserve detail, this panorama is larger than most I have shown you before, so please give it a little time to complete loading.

Nothing Left. CFA volunteer Ben stands in the ruins of what was once his home. Everything has been destroyed, but he and his family survived, while so many others did not.

Ben’s X-Box. Ben pulls his X-Box from the ruins of his home. Someone has already given him a new X-Box 360.

Child’s Trike. Ben’s five year old daughter’s trike stands destroyed in what was once the garden shed.

Exploded Fire Extinguisher. The heat of the fire was so great that it caused the pressure to build inside this fire extinguisher until it could no longer stay together. The side of the extinguisher was peeled back in a great explosion.

Melted Swing. A child’s swing survives the bushfire with relatively minor damage, while the house just meters behind lies in ruins.

Tragic Loss. When he returned to his property, Ben’s neighbours were missing. He looked in their cars to see if they were inside, but couldn’t find anyone there. The police later searched the cars, and found two bodies in the car to the left. The utter destruction of the fire left nothing that the untrained eye could discern as a human body.

The blue police tape here indicates that human remains were found on the scene. The yellow tape is to keep others out while the scene is investigated.

Marking the Loss. A bouquet of flowers and a small teddy bear marks the spot where two children and their grandmother died.

Their father had evacuated the children to their grandmothers, where he thought they would be safer from the bushfire. He stayed and defended the family home, which survived.

Petrol Station Destroyed. In the heart of Kinglake, less than 300m from where hundreds of residents were sheltering from the fire, the town’s petrol station was engulfed by flame.

A View of Death. What was once a spectacular mountain forest view is now nothing but destruction as far as they eye can see. Almost half a million hectares (nearly 2000 square miles) were destroyed by the bushfires in Victoria in February 2009.

Never Give Up. The local church was utterly destroyed, but when locals found the burned and bent flag pole in the wreckage, they erected it once again, exactly in the state they found it, and raised the Australian flag.

The flag has become a symbol of solidarity and determination for the town, and everywhere you go, you see it flying proudly.

You can see the full set of fifty four Kinglake photos in my flickr set.