Stoic fire chief Shane Fitzsimmons gave comfort to the people of Malua Bay 24 hours after the inferno. The toll of the dreadful fire season is never far when the commissioner recounts the toll of 25 deaths across the state, including six of his own men. The horror summer didn’t spare his volunteers like Steve Hillyer, a funny Australian larrikin. It's a wonder he has time to be funny, he is homeless. The volunteer firefighter spent more than 24 hours saving other people's homes only to return to his to find a pile of ash 
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Trauma

This Australian bush fire season has been unprecedented. In this podcast you will hear harrowing accounts of survival and the incredible acts of bravery and kindness which are helping the town of Malua Bay in southern New South Wales on the path to recovery. The town’s cast of heroes is a long one - the young surf life saver whose quick thinking spared hundreds of lives at the town beach, the RFS volunteers whose houses burned while they were saving others and the now homeless pharmacist who dispensed free medicine in the dark. This podcast captures the best of Australians.