Hazelwood

Description

A gripping and immediate account of one of the worst disasters in Australian history. Early in the afternoon of 9 February 2014, during the worst drought and heatwave south-eastern Australia had experienced in over a century, two separate bushfires raged towards the massive Hazelwood open-pit brown-coal mine, near Morwell in the Latrobe Valley. The fires overwhelmed local fire-fighting efforts and sent a skyful of embers sailing onto millions of square metres of exposed, highly flammable brown coal. Twelve hours later, the mine was ablaze. The Hazelwood mine fire burned out of control for 45 days. As the air filled with toxic smoke and ash, residents of the Latrobe Valley became ill, afraid - and angry. Up against an unresponsive corporation and an indifferent government, the community banded together, turning tragedy into a political fight. In Hazelwood, Tom Doig reveals the decades of decisions that led to the fire, and gives an intimate account of the first moments of the blaze and the dark months that followed. This is a gripping and immediate report of one of the worst environmental and public health disasters in Australian history.

Tom Doig has written for Guardian Australia, The Big Issue, Crikey, New Matilda and Voiceworks. Tom's second book, The Coal Face, was Joint-Winner of the 2015 Oral History Victoria Education Innovation Award. His first book, Moron to Moron, was published by Allen & Unwin in 2013. Hazelwood was longlisted for the 2020 Walkley Award for Books.