On February 7, 1967 Margaret Keogh was working as a school teacher near Hobart when a raging bushfire front threatened her students, home and family.
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More than fifty years after the event Ms Keogh has shared her story on camera, as part of the 1967 Bushfires Story Booth currently touring Tasmania.
The booth, supported by funding from the Tasmanian Fire Service, has filmed the accounts of more than 100 people since December last year.
Ms Keogh said her family were lucky not to have been among the 62 people who lost their lives in the disaster.
“We were exceptionally fortunate,” Ms Keogh said.
“When I got home we didn’t have anything to fight the fires so we gathered some things and left them in the sand dunes at a nearby beach and we took shelter until the fire front passed.”
TFS Community Development officer Lesley King said fire fighting technology had improved since 1967 but the fire risk remained high.
The booth will be available at the Launceston LINC from October 3-13.
