Report on the 2015 Impact Evaluation of Fire Stories: A Lesson in Time

The documentary film Fire Stories—A Lesson In Time was released in June 2013 by the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute. In the film, residents described their experience of the devastating 1957 bushfires in the upper Blue Mountains and reflected on what they have learnt. In October 2013, four months after the release of the film, severe bushfires very similar to those witnessed in the film, struck Blue Mountains townships. Two years later in 2015 we examined how viewing the film impacted audience members as they, and their households, responded to the 2013 threat, and since. In other words, we wanted to know did seeing the film influence how residents subsequently responded to a similar fire threat? This report summarises the outcomes of that evaluation.