Marcus All Over Jessica Blackwell Jessica Blackwell DipHBM'05, Graduate of Excellence 2010 and Managing Director of Equestricare considers herself lucky to live in a supportive community after fires razed her Gidgegannup home in February. Jessica and her sevenyear-old son, Blake, and their four horses managed to escape the fires 40 kilometres North-East of Perth. Despite being well-aware her bush block sits in a fire-prone area Jessica’s fire-plan to evacuate had not factored in how alarmingly fast the fire was moving.
how that happened, it has more trees closer to it than the house too. Nothing about the fire makes sense.” Jessica has been running an equine training centre from her home for the past 15 years with students and lecturers Australia-wide so she is hopeful that can continue in some form while she and Blake live in the shed. With 86 homes lost in the area the community has had to dig deep to support one another.
When Jessica was able to come back her home and business had been destroyed but true to the random path fire can take, not all was lost.
“The local community has been fantastic. The Country Women’s Association was feeding us all, they’ve been great,” she said. “I feel strongly about staying put and re-building. The district has definitely proven itself, it’s been extremely community-minded and very supportive which makes it the kind of area I want to stay in, and there is a level of understanding which will help in the long term.”
“I have a pretty large shed still standing which is quite impressive, the house on the other side of the shed is gone too, so it’s in the middle of two completely burnt houses,” Jessica said. “I’m not quite sure
Jessica’s ability to think beyond her own troubles has been truly admirable, with her appreciation of the work of volunteer fire fighters who fought nonstop for three days always top of mind.
“It covered a very large area in a very small amount of time,” she said. “I took my purse and my son took a toy because the fire was a 30-minute drive away and we really thought we would have a chance to come back and grab some stuff.”
“If it wasn’t for the volunteer firefighters it would have been many more than eighty-six houses lost in this area,” she said. “I’m sure lots of Marcus graduates living in rural areas are volunteer firefighters. I don’t think people truly recognise how hard work it is, what they risk, and what they do to save other people’s lives. Until you are in a situation like this, I don’t think you can truly appreciate how amazing they are and that they do it off their own backs.”
" I feel strongly about staying put and re-building. The district has definitely proven itself, it’s been extremely community-minded and very supportive"
equestricare@hotmail.com
Jessica and Blake Photo: Viki Tapper
37
