Following years of drought, Australia was ravaged by sweeping bushfires that began in 2019; 33 people were killed and thousands of others were displaced. Bushfires are an annual threat during Australia’s dry summers, but this wave of fires came early, catching many by surprise. The speed of the fires, coupled with the consistently dry conditions, created a situation firefighters struggled to control. New South Wales, a coastal state, was the hardest hit. The region located in the eastern part of the country is home to about six million people. Nathan Barnden, who has been working as a volunteer firefighter for the New South Wales Rural Fire Service since he was 16 years old, knew the 2019 fires were going to be bad ones. According to Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, more than 10 million hectares of land was affected. The World Wildlife Fund estimates the bushfires killed or displaced nearly three billion animals, including 143 million mammals, 2.5 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs. The devastation motivated people around the world to donate. The Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service — also known as WIRES — received more than $90 million to help native Australian wildlife. In this episode, Erica Vella speaks with Barnden about his story, learns about the animals and land that was destroyed and finds out how the country is recovering since the massive blaze a year ago. Contact: Twitter: @ericavella Email: [email protected] If you enjoy Whatever Happened To...? please take a minute to rate it on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, tell us what you think and share the show with your friends See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.