THERE will be a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 2003 Canberra bushfires at the ACT Bushfire Memorial in Stromlo Forest Park today (January 18).

The 2003 bushfires claimed four lives, 500 homes and injured and displaced many in the community.

“During this memorial period, our thoughts are with the victims of the 2003 bushfires – those who died, families who lost loved ones, those who were injured, those who lost their homes, as well as those who helped rebuild,” said Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman.

“The ACT government has undertaken significant reflection and work to learn from the lessons from the 2003 bushfires and implement a range of actions to ensure the territory is better prepared for bushfire and natural disasters.

“The community should be confident knowing that our emergency services agencies are more prepared for a bushfire emergency than ever before. Our emergency response to the Orroral Valley bushfire, storms and the COVID-19 pandemic show how the lessons learnt over the last 20 years have been implemented by the ACT government and by our community,

“There are more technology and communication channels at our disposal than ever before which means our monitoring is more effective and we can notify the community much faster. Surveillance, mapping, and prediction technology has advanced considerably,

“I encourage anyone from the community who would like to pay their respects to visit throughout the day or during the week to place some rosemary at the ACT Bushfire Memorial.”

The public is invited to visit the ACT Bushfire Memorial at Stromlo Forest Park throughout the day today, where rosemary will be available for those wishing to place it in remembrance. The official commemorative event will be streamed online and is accessible here from 6:30pm.