When you hear the term “open home” its usually associated with Saturday mornings and a house being sold.
But for Sue and Bob Pearson, the term took on a whole new meaning when 48 of their neighbours, including three babies, 23 dogs, one cat and a diabetic horse took shelter in their home when catastrophic bushfires swept through Yellow Rock in 2013.
In the upcoming documentary, Fire Stories 2, the Pearsons tell the extraordinary story of how they survived ember attacks, spot fires and a fire front which came to within 30 metres of their home during the 2013 Linksview fire which claimed more than 200 Blue Mountains homes.
Like many of the Mountains residents who feature in the documentary, Sue Pearson has some sound advice for us all.
“If you can learn from the experiences that you’ve had, it’ll make it better for you for the next time….because we all know that living in the Blue Mountains, there will be a next time, that’s for sure,” she said.
Fire Stories 2 is being produced by the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute and will screen on August 25 at the Blue Mountains Theatre and Community Hub in Springwood.
