More than 17 million hectares of land has been burnt since the Australian bushfire crisis started in September last year, an area of land bigger than Greece.  

With the loss of lives, home and wilderness, hundreds of thousands of kilometres of fencing has been destroyed, costing an estimated $10,000 per kilometre to replace.  

When visiting communities in the fire affected areas, Minderoo Foundation’s Fire Fund heard from farmers desperate to secure their properties and begin rebuilding their livelihoods.  

And we heard about BlazeAid, a volunteer organisation which grew out of the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria. 

Founded by Kevin and Rhonda Butler, BlazeAid provides a way for retired farmers, tradespeople and others to volunteer on properties affected by natural disasters, including fires and floods.  

The volunteers and farmers have formed a community of people working together to get their fellow Australians back on their feet.  

Today, Fire Fund announced a donation of $250,000 to BlazeAid, money which will be used to build ten new specialist fencing trailers.

BlazeAid’s travelling volunteers will use the trailers to scale up their work helping farming individuals and families across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. 

Practical solutions making a real difference. Our communities will rise again.