Disaster Relief
and Recovery
First to arrive, last to leave
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Adelaide Bushfire Relief: A Borrowed Hall That Held 32 Families
On 8 February 2015 the doors of the Kersbrook Public Hall stood open. The venue had been lent free of charge; approached through the local emergency relief centre, the hall's manager simply handed over the keys. That day 32 households who had just lost their homes came through it. Some collected cash cards. Some had their blood pressure taken at a health consultation station. Some sat for a while in front of a plate of hot food that Tzu Chi's culinary volunteers had prepared.
Adelaide bushfire relief rests on being here beforehand
The Tzu Chi Adelaide Office has been established in the state since 2012. Relief work that begins within days of a fire is not the product of sudden mobilisation; it depends on volunteers who already live in the city. Because they were here, assessments could be made, a venue found and a distribution designed while the ground was still warm.
January 2015: the Sampson Flat bushfire
In January 2015 the Sampson Flat bushfire swept through the Adelaide Hills, destroying 27 homes and 127 outbuildings and leaving 134 people injured. Tzu Chi volunteers moved quickly to conduct damage assessments, and through the local emergency relief centre secured the Kersbrook Public Hall as a distribution site, provided free of charge by its manager.
On the day, culinary volunteers prepared warm food, and a health station offered blood pressure checks and consultations for residents.
First round of distribution, 8 February 2015
This round assisted 32 affected households, of which 18 had lost their homes entirely and 14 were partially damaged. Supplies distributed were 51 cash cards, 103 eco-blankets, 32 collector's editions of the Jing Si Aphorisms and 31 bamboo banks.
On 22 February, volunteers returned to visit three of the families who had lost everything, to understand where their rebuilding stood and what they still needed. The distribution was the start of the relationship, not the end of it.
Second round of distribution，10 April 2016
The second round brought 62 volunteers together to support 24 households, 55 people in all. Supplies distributed were 31 cash cards, 55 eco-blankets, 43 Jing Si Aphorism books, 32 bamboo banks and 65 Blessings and Wisdom red envelopes.
Bill Spragg, then Mayor of the Adelaide Hills Council, attended the distribution in person and said the prompt work of the local Tzu Chi volunteers had moved him deeply.
November 2015: the Pinery bushfire
On 25 November of the same year another severe bushfire struck the Pinery region of South Australia. Gale-force winds reaching 90 km/h and shifting direction drove the fire hard: two people died, five were admitted to intensive care and 90 were injured. The fire destroyed 87 houses and damaged close to 500 more, along with 384 farm sheds, 98 vehicles and 82,000 hectares of farmland.
In the immediate aftermath, Tzu Chi volunteers travelled to Mallala to assess conditions on the ground. The distribution began at noon, with 53 volunteers working across six sequential stations so that every household could complete the process in an orderly and dignified way.
The Pinery distribution served 39 affected households, providing 39 cash cards, 117 eco-blankets, 39 Jing Si Aphorism books and Blessings and Wisdom red envelopes.
Kirsty Dudley, the local government Gawler Centre recovery coordinator, spoke highly of the volunteers' work, noting that Tzu Chi provided not only immediate material assistance but sustained follow-up care.
January 2015: the Sampson Flat bushfire
In January 2015 the Sampson Flat bushfire swept through the Adelaide Hills, destroying 27 homes and 127 outbuildings and leaving 134 people injured. Tzu Chi volunteers moved quickly to conduct damage assessments, and through the local emergency relief centre secured the Kersbrook Public Hall as a distribution site, provided free of charge by its manager.
On the day, culinary volunteers prepared warm food, and a health station offered blood pressure checks and consultations for residents.
First round of distribution, 8 February 2015
This round assisted 32 affected households, of which 18 had lost their homes entirely and 14 were partially damaged. Supplies distributed were 51 cash cards, 103 eco-blankets, 32 collector's editions of the Jing Si Aphorisms and 31 bamboo banks.
On 22 February, volunteers returned to visit three of the families who had lost everything, to understand where their rebuilding stood and what they still needed. The distribution was the start of the relationship, not the end of it.
Second round of distribution，10 April 2016
The second round brought 62 volunteers together to support 24 households, 55 people in all. Supplies distributed were 31 cash cards, 55 eco-blankets, 43 Jing Si Aphorism books, 32 bamboo banks and 65 Blessings and Wisdom red envelopes.
Bill Spragg, then Mayor of the Adelaide Hills Council, attended the distribution in person and said the prompt work of the local Tzu Chi volunteers had moved him deeply.
November 2015: the Pinery bushfire
On 25 November of the same year another severe bushfire struck the Pinery region of South Australia. Gale-force winds reaching 90 km/h and shifting direction drove the fire hard: two people died, five were admitted to intensive care and 90 were injured. The fire destroyed 87 houses and damaged close to 500 more, along with 384 farm sheds, 98 vehicles and 82,000 hectares of farmland.
In the immediate aftermath, Tzu Chi volunteers travelled to Mallala to assess conditions on the ground. The distribution began at noon, with 53 volunteers working across six sequential stations so that every household could complete the process in an orderly and dignified way.
The Pinery distribution served 39 affected households, providing 39 cash cards, 117 eco-blankets, 39 Jing Si Aphorism books and Blessings and Wisdom red envelopes.
Kirsty Dudley, the local government Gawler Centre recovery coordinator, spoke highly of the volunteers' work, noting that Tzu Chi provided not only immediate material assistance but sustained follow-up care.
What the figures stand for
Across two fires in a single year, Tzu Chi Adelaide volunteers supported more than 90 households. The figures are worth setting down not because they are large but because they are checkable: each cash card corresponds to a name, and each blanket reached a particular house.
After a fire, what is scarcest is often not supplies but someone willing to sit down and hear the whole story from the beginning. That is the least visible element in a six-station distribution, and among the most useful.
First to arrive, last to leave
Each relief operation is a test of that phrase. Fires go out; rebuilding takes years. Our hope is that through the longest part of that road, the people affected still have someone beside them.
What the figures stand for
Across two fires in a single year, Tzu Chi Adelaide volunteers supported more than 90 households. The figures are worth setting down not because they are large but because they are checkable: each cash card corresponds to a name, and each blanket reached a particular house.
After a fire, what is scarcest is often not supplies but someone willing to sit down and hear the whole story from the beginning. That is the least visible element in a six-station distribution, and among the most useful.
First to arrive, last to leave
Each relief operation is a test of that phrase. Fires go out; rebuilding takes years. Our hope is that through the longest part of that road, the people affected still have someone beside them.