An East Gippsland face representing the brilliant work Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteers do in protecting their communities has been splashed across a Bairnsdale laneway.
Bairnsdale Chamber of Commerce commissioned several artists to help light up a local laneway, asking them create art that represents resilience and recovery.  
Bairnsdale artist, Tracey Solomon, said her mural depicts her nephew, Daniel Answer-Waddell, who is a firefighter at Orbost Fire Brigade.
“I was inspired by the work of thousands of volunteers during the 2019-20 fires, which greatly affected our East Gippsland communities,” she said.
“Daniel was deployed to fight some of the fires across East Gippsland over the 2019-20 summer, which I thought was an amazing service to his community.
“It’s inspiring to think he stepped up at his young age to fight those fires when many would’ve backed down and let others do the work.”
The art was part of the Chamber of Commerce’s Laneway Activation project and will be used to launch East Gippsland’s upcoming Winter Festival in June this year.
Daniel said he was pleased with how the recovery and resilience mural turned out.  
“I was 17 years old at the time of the 2019-20 fires, so while I couldn’t yet be deployed on a strike team, I wanted to do my part to help out locally,” he said.
“We were fighting those fires over a number of weeks.
“I enjoy being part of the brigade and supporting my community in times of need.”
The reinvigorated laneway will come alive as part of upcoming East Gippsland Winter Festival next month.

IMAGE: Bairnsdale artist, Tracey Solomon, painted a mural depicting her nephew, Daniel Answer-Waddell, who is a firefighter at Orbost Fire Brigade, as part of piece commissioned by Bairnsdale Chamber of Commerce for several artists to help light up a local laneway. (PS)