After the fire

Apr 5

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.

Denmark resident James Gentle standing next to the remains of his caravan after the Denmark bushfire. The image shows how close the fire came to his home in the bush.

Denmark's James Gentle lost his caravan in the February bushfire. There's little left to show except melted shapes of metal and glass.

Six weeks after the fire and the resilient ferns are already coming back, and the Xanthorrea are sprouting again.

James Gentle stands beside a Kingia which is already sprouting new foliage and even flowers.

Man walking up a bush track after a bushfire has gone through, with burnt leaves in the foreground

What was once an old piano in the bush is now a burnt sculpture

James Gentle inspects the burnt remains of an old piano after the Denmark bushfire

James Gentle - man amid the burnt remains of his bush block in Denmark

Man's feet walking over burnt ground after a bushfire

Two cyclists through burnt trees after a bushfire

Ferns are so resilient, already new growth showing after the recent bushfire in Denmark on the south coast of Western Australia

Man's boots and patterns in the burnt ground after a bushfire.

Green around the soak whilst all around is brown and burnt following a recent fire.

The Kingia in flower just weeks after a bushfire.

Bearded man next to the burnt trunk of a Kingia following a bushfire

Bearded man in front of a bank of solar panels in the bush

James Gentle outside his house built of found things.

The bathroom tiles were all finds at the local tip shop

At home with musician and artist, James Gentle

Bearded man by a dam in the Australian bush

Bearded man with his head in his hand, his hands black from dealing with the remains of a bushfire

Bearded man in the cab of his little orange and blue tractor

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