After the Bayindeen fire at Cave Hill Creek in February 2024, we came across an unexpected “installation” inside the old steel tank where we store our high ropes equipment. Before the fire, everything in there was neatly stacked: helmets sorted in crates, ropes coiled, gear organised on a trolley.
The fire tore through the bushland around the tank, but the steel walls offered just enough protection for the equipment to… well… gently collapse into itself. The radiant heat melted the plastic and rope, fusing it all together into a surreal, drippy, technicolour sculpture. Not what we expected to find — but strangely captivating in its own way.
A little bit of accidental art in the middle of the clean‑up — and a great reminder of the humour, heart and creativity in the Cave Hill Creek community.
We shared the image online, and our community jumped in with clever, funny and creative caption ideas. Here are some of the favourites. Our favourite was HOT UNDER THE HELMET. Which one gets your vote?
Favourite Captions…
Helmets in Blue
Oooy Gooy
Hot mess or Hot stuff
Safety scorched
Knot Giving Up
Aftermath
Bushfire Belay
A little heat won’t stop us
H’Art Melt
We didn’t start the fire
Fire vs Figure 8
Melted but not defeated
Melting Moments
Don’t play with fire
Melt Down
Action ablaze
Melted dreams
Harness the heat
Melted memories
Tangled
Too hot to play today
Hot pursuits
Heat
Molten conundrum
Phoenix
Lucky
Kookaburra sits on the Burnt Wire Fence
By Marg Watts
Created by BlazeAid volunteer Marg Watts during the post‑fire recovery at Cave Hill Creek, this kookaburra is crafted from burnt fence wire, a fire‑scarred fence post, and fragments salvaged from the debris. As Marg worked helping to rebuild the fences, she was inspired by the local kookaburras overseeing the team’s efforts. A few months after the blaze, she gifted the finished sculpture to Tim and Ange. Now permanently on display at Cave Hill Creek, it stands as a gentle symbol of resilience, generosity and the beauty that emerges from what the fire left behind.
