On Friday, our state burned.
A Catastrophic Fire Warning was issued statewide.
More than 500 structures were lost.
15,000 livestock perished.
One life was tragically lost.
Power was cut to thousands of households.
Internet and phone services went down.
All National Parks were closed.
In extreme conditions like these, every small piece of resilience matters.
Despite widespread outages, our off-grid kiosks continued operating around the clock in Halls Gap, Dunkeld, and Lake Tyrell - with no mains power and no ground-based internet.
This short video captured by the Ring camera at Halls Gap is incredibly powerful. It shows visitors reading, understanding, and heeding critical safety advice when it mattered most. If our technology helps even one person stay informed and safe during moments like this, then it is all worth it.
Finally, a big shout out to the extraordinary men and women of the emergency services and CFA volunteers across the state, who risk everything to protect lives, communities, and country.