My name is Rob Dixon. I’m a father of four kids living in Port Macquarie, a town on the Mid North Coast of Australia. The 8th November 2019 was a pretty intense day for us. Bushfires had been raging around the town for almost two weeks. Firefighters were doing their best to contain them, but they just kept burning. It was hot, dry and windy. People and homes were under threat. Animals were dying. It was scary.
As I drove to pick up my kids from school that afternoon, it was clear the situation had now become a lot more dangerous than I’d thought. The fire was closer, the smoke was choking and the sky was an eerie red colour – looked like I was on an alien planet.
We arrived home and my sons immediately ran out into the backyard to look at the sky and try to catch some of the ash that was floating down. Back inside, I stood at the end of the hallway, looking toward the open front door. An intense orange glow filled the doorway.
As I watched, almost mesmerised, my daughter walked out of her room, up the hall, and stood in the doorway.
The image in front of me was amazing. I just had to capture it.
I quickly grabbed my phone from my pocket and went down on one knee.
‘Looks so weird, Dad,’ my daughter said.
‘Sure does, sweetheart,’ I replied.
Click. I took the shot. 216
She silently stood there for a moment, then, quick as a flash, took off into the yard.
Thankfully the fires didn’t affect our particular part of town, but other surrounding areas were hit badly. The Australian bushfires are an awful thing and the 2019 season was a particularly devastating one. Hundreds of homes and wildlife destroyed. Thousands of hectares wiped out. Many lives lost.
The photo of my daughter is a stark reminder of that day.
I’ll never forget it.
—Rob Dixon