Tribute to fire victims

Artist Ernst Fries in his workshop with materials for the Black Saturday memorial. 102372 Picture: DONNA OATES

By JESSE GRAHAM

YARRA GLEN will have a memorial constructed in time for the fifth anniversary of Black Saturday.
The memorial is being constructed by sculptor Ernst Fries and will feature a piece honouring those who lost their lives in the area and celebrating the resilience of the town.
“(The bushfires) claimed lives, created indescribable anxiety and trauma for hundreds of people within the Shire of Yarra Ranges and destroyed irreplaceable personal belongings, property, livestock and wildlife habitat,” Mr Fries said.
“It is not a war memorial, which remembers heroic loss of life, but a memorial of a natural disaster which selected its often unprepared victims randomly,” he said.
The memorial area is set to be finished on 25 November this year, in time for the fifth anniversary memorial service.
For more information, read next week’s edition of the Mountain Views Mail.