Down to Earth with Zac Efron (2020) s02e06 Episode Script
Wildfire
1
[Zac] Life is a ride.
- What's the secret? This is my clutch?
- Yep.
[Zac] It's filled with unexpected
All right!
bumps.
Some good, some bad.
And while you certainly
can't control what happens,
you can try to control
how you deal with it.
For it's in these heated moments
that our true character is shown.
We're going to take a closer look,
but not too close,
at the visible effect
of the process of combustion.
We had animals come in
where their hands would be burnt off.
[Zac] At its worst, the destructive power
can be devastating and deadly.
[woman] This is where our house was.
[Zac] But when managed
and controlled properly,
it's one of mankind's
greatest discoveries.
[dramatic music playing]
[Zac] Our story of fire begins
off the coast of South Australia,
where we take a quick boat ride
to reach our destination.
A 1,700-square-mile land mass
called Kangaroo Island.
In December of 2019,
lightning storms during the hottest,
driest time of the year
ignited the largest bushfires
in the history of the island.
And just like that,
46% of Kangaroo Island was burned.
Mother Nature works without a conscience,
and the diverse wildlife population
on this island
was decimated in the smoke and flames.
Sam and Dana Mitchell
are the owners and operators
of Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park,
and in the face of the fires,
these two, along with their employees
and other locals, became instant heroes
as they began the task of rescuing
any and all animals displaced or injured.
Two months now since the fires first hit.
Since then, we've seen
just under 600 animals
come through the doors, about 95% koalas.
[Zac] Sam took us for a ride
in their rescue vehicle
so we could grasp just how extensive
the fire damage was to the land.
[Sam] So you can see
this obviously had all burned.
- [Zac] All that's new growth?
- [Sam] Yeah.
Nothing that wasn't native
survived the fires,
but the Australian bush
has dealt with it before.
[Darin] Yeah, it's made for it.
Yeah, this was a big fire.
Wow.
[Sam] Every direction here is burned.
There's a patch beyond us that's not.
Jeez.
[somber music playing]
Jeez!
It's really hard to explain
the speed that it moved in.
You can see burnt-out areas,
but you drive 100 km west
and everything's burned,
and that all happened overnight,
you just gotta think how quick
this thing was really moving.
It was quite hard to see when the smoke
and ash was coming at you.
Even wearing goggles,
your eyes were burning.
Now, we've gone through one winter
since the fire,
so the paddock's greened up.
Every bit of grass Everything was black.
It was just ash, black.
The ground here,
you wouldn't see red, just ash.
[Darin] It's almost to a point where
you don't even believe it could come back.
[Sam] No.
We would go out here and check a carcass.
You'd roll it over
and wouldn't see a fly, ant, or bug.
You'd just think it was everything.
Um, everything suffered.
And it's gonna take many years
for anything to move back in.
Even a year on,
it's still a lot of work to be done.
[Zac] The damage and destruction
goes as far as the eye can see
and in every direction.
After rescuing whatever animals survived,
the next step was to bring them
to the center for rehabilitation.
[Sam] Well over a year now,
and we still got 20-odd koalas
from the bushfires
living here at the park.
- It was well over 600, wasn't it? 650.
- Yeah, over 650.
Really?
In a short period of time,
and we've released about 250.
But, unfortunately,
the rest didn't make it.
So of that 600, only 250 were
Yeah, yeah.
We weren't built to be a rescue center.
We were a tourism destination.
We did rescue and rehabilitate
some koalas and kangaroos each year.
When the fires hit,
it went from a few each year to 600
in just the two months.
- The population was booming over here.
- Wow.
It was estimated somewhere
between 50 to 60,000 koalas.
Now, somewhere between five
and 10,000 koalas left,
so about 80% of that population lost.
Oh my gosh.
- [Dana] Insane.
- And kangaroos and reptiles
Yeah, the reason we saw
the most koalas out of any other species
was they're the only animal
that didn't have a chance to get away.
The goannas and the snakes
can go somewhere underground.
The birds can fly away, the kangaroos
have a chance to hop away,
whereas the koalas are
at the top of big trees.
They see the fire coming, can't get down,
and they're not fast as it is anyways.
The very first few weeks
was probably the hardest
because we'd have animals come in
where their fingers
or their hands would be burnt off.
Oh, jeez.
We found kangaroos that had stubs
for legs two weeks after the fires,
still feeding their joeys.
That's amazing.
You guys were thrust into greatness.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, kept us busy.
[Dana] We have somebody for you to meet.
This is Mickey.
Mickey's one of our keepers [laughs]
here at the park.
- On her shoulder, she's got Pearl.
- Oh my God.
So Pearl is one
of our little bushfire rescues.
As you can see, she's very cuddly.
She's probably
one of the remaining ones who
You're welcome to pet her.
[Zac] I would!
[Dana] She's one of the koalas remaining
that was one of the most burnt
out of the joeys.
Right here. I can see.
All four of her paws,
right across her ears.
Mickey did a lot of work with me
throughout the fires
looking after the joeys,
bottle-feeding them and all that.
Pearl's definitely one
of our special little girls.
[Zac] Who's a good koala bear? You are.
Oh yeah!
I'll grab Pearl. We'll take her inside.
They don't like the sun too much.
Really? Always trying to stay cool?
We'll head inside,
and we can go say hello to Pearl in there.
- Hi, sweet thing.
- What do you think?
- Gosh, they're so cool.
- Yeah.
We'll head over this way,
inside where it's not so hot.
[Zac] So she's five kilos, you think?
- Roughly five.
- [Dana] Just under five.
- Up to 15, the males?
- Yeah. We got a big boy here.
I'll show you, and he's only 11,
but he's an impressive lump.
Wow.
Watch your feet.
There's kangaroo joeys running around.
- [Zac] "Impressive lump" just like you.
- Thank you.
[Zac] This is the moment
we've been waiting for.
We're in Australia on Kangaroo Island,
about to see kangaroos.
Inside here is where
all of the rehabilitation happens.
- Oh my God.
- Wow.
- Hi. I didn't know you guys laid down.
- [Darin] Can I go up to 'em?
[Dana] Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Sam's got some milk for them.
[Zac] I've never seen you
lay down before.
- [Darin] Hi.
- [Zac gasps]
Oh hi, buddy!
[Sam] Yeah,
this little girl come in yesterday.
[Zac] Hi, sweetheart.
- [Sam] She's not in a great way.
- [Zac] Oh.
[Sam] And little Grace behind us here.
Hi, baby.
[Sam] Beautiful little girl.
She's quite adventurous.
If you want, give these a shake.
That one is for the smaller kangaroo
behind you.
- This one is for the larger kangaroo.
- [Zac] Here you go. [kissing]
[Sam] Yeah, just
- Hi, boo boo.
- [kisses]
[Sam] They get a little bit distracted.
[Dana] Like,
"I know someone else has my bottle."
This is like the definition of dangling
a carrot. Come here, check it out.
[Dana] Both of these girls came in
from road accidents.
Both mums were unfortunately hit
and killed on the roads,
but luckily, when they are hit,
the joey in the pouch is quite protected.
Look at you, perfect balance.
Your tail, you're cheating.
I can hear his digestion.
- [Dana] Drinking it?
- His stomach.
[Zac] It should be noted baby koalas
and baby kangaroos are called joeys.
In fact, all marsupial babies
are called joeys.
[Dana] These girls are ready to go to bed.
If you hold the bag,
they should hopefully slip into it.
Jerry's already lying down.
Just hold it out and open,
they should slip in,
ready to go to bed,
and we can hang them up behind us.
Wanna go in here?
Come on. Come here.
Go on.
[Dana] Maybe. No. [chuckles]
So this little
She's gonna think this is like
- There we go.
- the pouch?
[Dana] The pouch is an artificial bag
for them to think they're in mum's pouch.
[Sam] You gotta shuffle 'em in
a little bit. Yeah.
[Darin laughs]
Look what I got. She's looking to go.
- [Dana] She's ready. She's primed now.
- [Zac] Wanna come in here?
Nope. Uh, guess not.
Denied.
- Wild animals. [chuckles]
- [Dana] Yeah.
What a trip.
Well, Darin is indeed the Joey Whisperer.
[ethereal music playing]
[Zac] Wildfires are going to happen.
It isn't about planning
for the unexpected,
it's about planning for the inevitable.
And because of climate change,
each summer, the fires are getting bigger
and spreading faster.
Sam, Dana, and others in the area
are pushing for a better infrastructure
to deal with the future.
Koalas and kangaroos are the majority
of the animals rescued here.
Because they're cute and cuddly,
people are more motivated to save them.
However, charitable donations
are used to help any and all creatures
they're equipped to rescue
and rehabilitate here.
- That includes this guy.
- [Sam] Yordi.
Hey Zac, nice to meet you.
- How are you? Darin.
- Darin, nice to meet you.
[Darin] Cool.
[Dana] She's about three years old.
She's a baby.
[Zac] Wow.
[Darin] How many reptiles
were you guys getting in?
Well, Australia has been managed
with fire for forever.
The Aboriginal people
used fire to manage this land.
Some plants here are fire-resistant.
Without fire, they don't flower or seed.
So, these animals have grown up with fire.
Some animals, like black kites,
use fire to their advantage.
When a black kite sees smoke,
he'll cook over there.
He knows there's
cooked lizards and snakes.
He doesn't have to hunt.
He can just go have a barbecue.
- [Zac] Wow.
- [Yordi] Look at that.
[Darin] Wow.
[laughing]
Ready for my close-up?
Check that out. Look at your reflection.
[chuckling]
- [Sam] Hasn't bitten anyone this week, so
- [Yordi] Yeah.
- Cool, all right. Wow.
- Awesome stuff, man.
- Good on you.
- Thank you. Awesome.
- Cheers, man. Thank you.
- Bloody oath.
[Zac] As heartbreaking as it is to witness
this aftermath of the wildfire damage,
it's uplifting to see
this community come together
to save so much of the wildlife
on Kangaroo Island.
You know how you call tell
if a kangaroo is male or female?
Females have a pouch.
Whoa! I'm no expert,
but I believe that is a male kangaroo.
The Black Summer is the name given
to the Australian bushfire season
of 2019 through 2020.
Hundreds of fires burned down
46 million acres of land.
That's 20% of the country's forests,
and thousands of buildings and homes.
It was the most devastating
wildfire season on record for the country,
all costing
an estimated $103 billion in damage.
We're here to meet a family
that lost their home, farmland, livestock.
Everything burned down to the ground.
But despite all of the loss
felt by Tom and Stephanie Wurst,
they have a message of hope and positivity
as they slowly rebuild their lives
and a better future
for their three children.
Hi, Steph. Nice to meet you.
[Stephanie] This is where our house was.
In here.
It was built in the 1950s,
so, yeah, it was about 70 years old.
And we'd just finished renovating it,
actually, so
- Oh no.
- Oh, you just
- Really?
- Yeah.
[Tom] Just had it to where we wanted it.
[Stephanie] So,
the fire came through on January 3rd,
and we weren't expecting it at all
to come this far.
But I think that was my fourth time
that I had evacuated,
and so I probably didn't pack
as much as I should have.
- [Darin] It's funny that way.
- Yeah.
It just doesn't What's essential?
Your kids and a couple things.
[Tom] That's right.
At the end of the day,
as long as people are safe, then
Right.
that's the biggest thing in my mind.
I don't know if you guys know,
but I share the misery
and the challenge of that.
I lost At the end
of our first season, I lost everything.
It's hard to deal with.
Initially, it was so shocking,
there was not one thing left on the whole
property from all our whole farm,
all the planting equipment.
There wasn't even a hammer, not one thing.
Livestock, to me, was the hardest part.
We lost a lot of livestock.
I think up to 60,000 head of livestock,
which were incinerated.
- 60,000? Oh my God.
- Jeez.
I think that's an underestimate,
but just seeing
the livestock which suffered,
and having to try
to deal with that as well, like
But the community has been amazing.
The amount of the help that just turned up
within those first few days
was just incredible.
Like, it's quite humbling.
I feel like, "Can we ever repay
everyone in the world?"
People from around the world
have done so much for us.
Sometimes I felt like it was a warm hug
coming around us
of everyone around the community.
[Zac] The community helped
Tom and Stephanie immensely
as they slowly got back on their feet.
And Stephanie soon became
a voice for the landowners
who had suffered similar losses.
Stephanie even testified
before an Australian Senate Committee
to champion the use
of Indigenous fire management practices
and other wildlife conservation
and protections.
It was a really logistical nightmare
'cause everyone had lost
most of their planting equipment
in the fires,
so there wasn't much equipment
to help with anything
around the whole farm property.
What was the plan with the cattle?
Were you able to save any?
Yeah, yeah, we probably lost
a bit over half the livestock.
Some luckily found pockets of land
and were saved.
But, yeah, dealing with them
afterwards was really hard,
'cause all the fences are burned,
there's just livestock going everywhere.
There was no feed,
which was the biggest concern.
There was obviously no pasture, no hay.
We lost our crops, the hay, everything,
so there was no feed for what we had left.
Do you feel like it's bonded you two
and the family together even more?
Yeah. Uh, there's definitely been
ups and downs, though.
- Hasn't there, Jack? [laughs]
- [Darin] Yeah. For sure.
- Not all downs.
- It's not all easy, at all.
Um, there's been some really hard times,
hasn't there?
There's also been some very good times.
Yeah,
there's been some really good times too.
[Zac] Now, it's time for some fun.
Tom and Stephanie's son Jack
will give me a lesson in driving
this big red tractor.
Whoo! Yeah!
[upbeat music playing]
[engine revving]
This is not gonna go well for me. [laughs]
Oh, he's making it look easy.
There's only room for two up here,
so Darin's gonna have to sit this one out.
Yeah, that works. Dirt bike. Perfect.
You jump on and show Zac.
All right. Wow, there's a lot of controls.
[Darin] Hey, good luck, Zac!
- What's the secret? This is my clutch?
- Yep.
So, mostly you want to get
Push that into forwards.
- Yep.
- Right. Now we're going forward?
Clutch on.
- [Zac] Clutch on?
- [Jack] And up to first.
- [Zac] Clutch on?
- [Jack] And up to first.
[Zac] All right!
Yoo!
Let's see how fast this thing goes.
I think that's fourth.
See you! [laughs]
[Jack grunts]
Make sure you hold on.
Got 'em. All right, thanks, sensei.
[Jack] Back it up.
[Zac] Yee-hoo!
Whoo!
Oh!
Think we ran over something.
Hey!
Hay!
These guys look hungry.
[imitates cow mooing]
Little fact, the average cow eats
about 24 pounds of hay per day.
I'm just throwing that out there.
What a day.
[Jack] They like that.
[Zac] Should we shut this off
while the cows eat?
[Jack] Yeah.
There we go.
This was incredibly satisfying,
and I'm not even talking
about driving the tractor,
although that was pretty cool.
- [cows mooing]
- [imitates cows mooing]
You're Maverick, I'm Goose.
That's from a movie you haven't seen yet,
but you'll love one day, called Top Gun.
A year ago, this family lost everything.
But it was just stuff,
and they always had each other.
Now, they're getting
back on their feet again
with more cattle, and a way to feed them.
They're back doing
what they love, together.
I think I'm done with movies.
- You weren't even injured.
- On to the farm. Thank you.
- See you.
- You guys are so sweet.
Oh, thanks for coming.
Really enjoyed having guys here.
Yeah, thanks for having us.
Congratulations, guys.
Baby left home ♪
She never came back ♪
[Zac] There's a lot
modern society can learn
from the old traditions
and methods of the past.
With the destruction
from the fires here in Australia,
it's more important than ever
to listen to those voices.
Today, we'll learn the technique
of cool fires or cultural burns,
with the Gerringong Rangers.
This technique dates back
thousands of years
and was created by the Aboriginal people
as a way to manage
potential wildfire damage.
Growing up in California,
I know about prescribed burning,
which is a similar idea.
It'll be interesting to see
how the Aboriginals did it.
- You get nervous before you do this?
- [ranger] Sometimes I do.
It'll depend on how big
the area that we're gonna burn.
Closest I ever got to starting a fire
I tried to light a bonfire
with gasoline one time,
and it lit up in a fireball.
- It went all around me.
- [laughs] Yeah.
I lost my eyebrows, my eyelashes.
Looked pretty funny in my school pictures.
No, we're not showing that school photo.
Seems like wildfires are getting
worse and worse. But why?
- Whoa! What are you doing here?
- I've always been here.
Since the dawn of time,
lightning's been striking the earth,
igniting random fires
and causing brush to burn.
So all of these recent fires
aren't caused by global warming?
No single wildfire can be blamed
directly on climate change,
but wildfires are becoming
more frequent, bigger, and longer
because of higher temperatures.
What's the difference?
[fire] A steady increase in carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere
is causing the average temperatures
on Earth to rise.
The increased temperatures in turn
cause longer, hotter fire seasons,
what we know as summers.
The seasonal heat dries up
the soil, trees, and other vegetation,
making them all more vulnerable
to damaging pests.
All of this dried and dead vegetation
is just fuel waiting to be ignited.
Lightning is usually
the natural cause of wildfires,
and higher temperatures
cause more lightning,
about 10% for every one degree.
Why does nature cause
brush fires in the first place?
It's nature's way
of keeping the forest healthy.
Fires clear out the underbrush,
clean the forest floor,
and return the area to a healthier state.
There you have it.
More chances for ignition,
a tinderbox of dry fuel,
and a longer summer season
for it to happen.
[Zac] So that's why we're getting
more destructive wildfires
all over the globe, year after year.
[fire] Keep in mind, in the US,
80 to 90% of wildfires
were caused by human activity,
like careless campers,
faulty power lines, and even arson.
Oh, that reminds me.
Now that the forest is healthy again.
You better put me out.
Oh. Good call.
Bye!
[Zac] Aboriginal use of fire
as a tool to manage the forest
dates back tens of thousands of years.
The concept is fairly simple.
Regular low-intensity burning
of the underbrush in small sections
depletes the forest
of natural fuel for wildfires.
In turn, the soil becomes more fertile,
and the larger trees are able to survive
if and when the next fires strike.
Yep. Marker.
[ranger] We'll hop out here.
[Zac] Traditionally, the Aboriginals
believe these burns
have a spiritual connection
with the land, and rightly so.
They're using the powerful element
of fire to protect their home,
a concept at which the original colonists
balked and eventually marveled,
because it seems crazy, yet it works.
Film crew and everyone,
I want to show you something.
Just so you don't bump into it.
This week, I did.
Over here.
Green ants nest here.
And they'll sting the bejesus out of you.
Wow. Green ants.
I've never heard of green ants.
I'll just assume
they're far worse than red ants.
Cool.
Next, it's time to start the actual fire.
Obviously, these are trained rangers
with proper permits and equipment,
and nobody should
ever attempt this on their own.
First, the healthy tree stumps
are cleared of debris and brush
to minimize the potential damage
that will be done by the fire.
- Let's go for it.
- Yeah. Let's go for it.
[Zac] There's a very ceremonial process
to starting the burn.
Clarence will light the very first fire
in the most traditional way possible.
No lighter or match used.
This is started by the friction
of a stick against a piece of wood.
If you want to have a first go,
you can have a try.
- Like that?
- You're a natural.
Smoking already.
Oh yeah.
No, try to keep in there and not go
Okay.
This is how it's been done
for tens of thousands of years,
and trees like this one
are still standing because of it.
Good. Gently blow now.
[suspenseful music playing]
Now.
Look at these [beeps] ants.
[laughing]
They're everywhere!
[ranger] Welcome to North Queensland!
[laughing]
[Zac] Oh, there we go.
This is crazy.
It feels like the exact opposite
of what you're supposed to do
with fire in the woods.
- Wow.
- Okay.
[Zac] I keep reminding myself that
this tradition is thousands of years old.
Now that the flame is lit,
they'll use matches, which are still wood,
and therefore keeping close
to the tradition.
They will do this
over and over and over today.
This is a very different experience
with fire.
It's treating fire as a friend,
as a partner,
using it as a tool
to prevent an uncontrolled wildfire
from ravaging the forest
and all that live in it.
[ranger] With this cultural burn,
because it's a slow burn, cool burn,
and it'll allow all the animals
to get away quickly
out of the burning area.
It will also promote grass growth
that sometimes grows
in patches in the open forest,
and it allows wallabies
and them to come graze
on the young shoots, and
So you're sort of resetting the soil?
Yeah, resetting the soil,
and some of the vegetation here
that does need fire to germinate.
[Zac] Modern Aboriginal involvement
in fire control is fairly new,
but it's a much-needed voice
for the process and the community.
[ranger] We've been burning in places
that haven't been burned for 30 years.
[Zac] Jeez.
You've got 30 years of fuel lying there.
That's a terrible wildfire waiting.
- [Zac] That's a fire waiting to happen.
- [ranger] Just gonna go off, yeah.
It's interesting. Goes against everything
in your instinct that's good
for the forest. Yet it is.
Yeah. That's what people
have to realize in regards to fire.
It can be a healer of the country as well.
[Zac] Fire as a healer.
That's an incredible concept.
[Darin] This really does a lot for me,
because I lost my house
in California to fire,
and I really feel like if this was done,
it could have prevented the big fire
that destroyed everything.
I feel like this is a proactive thing
that we should be learning
from the Indigenous people.
[ranger] Yeah.
[Darin] So I'm really grateful
for this experience.
[Zac] The fire will burn for about
an hour, clearing out the undergrowth
and eventually dying out on its own.
About 17 acres were cleared today.
Thanks to volunteers like these,
the tradition will continue
to be passed down to the next generation.
This ancient Aboriginal ceremony
is a holistic approach
that takes into account
everything within the environment.
Which trees will burn and which won't,
the amount of undergrowth
that will serve as fuel,
and the direction
the winds will carry the flames.
And if adopted more,
can offer better sustainability
and wildlife protection to forests
all over this country and others.
[woman speaking over radio]
Oh, that's the ants!
[ranger] Yeah. Green ants?
[Zac] Oy!
[ranger] Pretty fierce when they wanna be.
[Zac] Just when you thought it was safe
Ow! !
there's the green ants.
[laughs]
- Where are they coming from?
- Your neck.
[Zac] We knew this would happen, right?
Let's get out of here.
[laughing]
Oh, they got a cool little bite on 'em.
[laughing]
Okay. I, marker.
[laughing]
[vibrant music playing]
[Zac] A more positive part of our journey
about flames and smoke brings us here
just south of Sydney
on this beautiful beach,
to meet a chef who stepped out
of more traditional kitchens
[Darin] Come on.
[Zac] and into the fire.
This is Chef Lennox Hastie,
a renowned culinary artist
featured on Chef's Table: BBQ.
And in his world-class
restaurant Firedoor,
he doesn't use an oven or a stove,
no gas or electricity.
He has perfected the art of cooking
with his favorite ingredient, wood.
Luckily, he didn't mind
bringing his kitchen to us,
here by the Pacific Ocean, for a lesson
on cooking over an open flame.
- Amazing.
- How's it going?
- Zac. Nice to meet you.
- [Darin] Hey, chef.
- Darin. Pleasure.
- Welcome to the outdoor kitchen.
- [Zac] Oh wow! Look at this setup!
- [Darin] This is incredible.
[Lennox] I've been burning this
for a couple of hours.
This is the ember stage.
That's the thing about fire,
you have to always preempt it.
Every day starts,
the first thing a chef does
is light a fire and go from there.
And then the different types of wood here
give you different scenarios
for the fire and the heat?
Yeah, you'll see variances in the wood,
whether it's fruit trees,
or whether it's really intense.
The base we use is a type of red gum
which is called ironbark,
which is really dense.
One of the densest woods in the world.
- [Zac] Wow. Feel that. It's like a brick.
- Yeah. It's almost petrified.
[Lennox] Yeah, so harder to light,
but really intense heat
for a long period of time,
which is obviously really different
from any of this driftwood
when you're out on the beach. Super light.
It's just understanding,
A, the form of heat
and what each wood gives you,
but also the flavor profile,
the characteristic of the wood,
the smell, the aromacy.
When did you lock on to fire?
For me, I think all of us
have early memories as kids,
cooking with fire, campfires,
bringing people
together for a celebration.
But as a chef, I managed
to find a grill restaurant
in the Basque Mountains
many years ago, like 15, 16 years ago.
- Where's that?
- In the north of Spain.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
Grilling is part of the Basque tradition.
All around the world,
you find pockets of traditional cultures.
The bastions, the guardians
of their tradition,
hanging on to it as much as possible
because it's part of the culture,
it's what makes us us.
Did you cook with them there?
I went there for a year,
fell in love with the style,
and spent the next five years there
just absorbing, learning, increasing
my knowledge as much as possible.
Most of it through experimentation.
Cooking outdoors is so primal.
You gotta understand,
you yourself are an ingredient,
an integral part of the process.
This is an interactive sport.
[Darin] I love that, what you just said.
You are an ingredient
to this whole process.
- That's cool.
- Yeah.
We got some beautiful school prawns.
So again, that idea
of "shrimp on the barbie."
[Zac] Cool.
So really small school prawns,
locally harvested just up the river.
I'll use a mist of oil.
So, we use a grape-seed oil.
Neutral flavor, high temperature.
You're just giving exactly what it needs.
You're not brushing with olive oil,
not tossing in olive oil.
If you do that
I don't know if you barbecue,
but I've had people come to me,
"Everything's engulfed in flames."
They'll brush it with olive oil.
- That's my experience.
- [Lennox] Exactly.
Suddenly it's flare-up,
and then, "Oh my God!"
It's fire, everyone panics.
"[bleeps] What's happening?" It's crazy.
Got a bit of chili and garlic there,
got some sea purslane.
The beautiful thing is,
the more you do it, the more you learn.
I do it because it brings me
in close contact with the ingredients,
but I also do it
because every day is different.
Once this is up to heat,
you'll have these pipis.
[Zac] Beautiful. What's the difference
between a pipi
- [Lennox] A pipi?
- [Zac]and other shellfish?
When I first came to Australia,
I was living on the east coast
and used to do the pipi shuffle
in the sand.
I found a few of those accidentally.
A pipi just pops up between your toes.
It's that misconception of
Pipis became essentially baitfish,
weren't a food staple.
If you go back to Indigenous culture,
it's just something they eat.
If you look at the middens
dating back 60,000 years,
alongside oysters,
you'll find pipi shells.
- [Zac] Wow.
- That's a beautiful food source.
And this beautiful garlic.
Oh my God. I'm so stoked. [laughs]
This is so good.
You just bring that all together.
That flavor of the wood smoke,
and the vegetable, the school prawn.
Little bit of garlic, bring it together.
- Salt's perfect.
- Whole thing, head and all.
- Sweet. Nutty.
- Oh my gosh.
[soft guitar playing]
[chuckling]
You see these pipis is open.
[Zac] They got their tongues out, look.
[Lennox] You want to capture them,
their juices,
that makes for a really good sauce.
Do you use butter or anything like that?
No, I don't.
It's something I don't cook with anymore.
- Really? At all?
- [Lennox] Yeah.
I found that with fire, it was masking
the natural flavor of the ingredients.
- Oh wow.
- Which is far more
Those flavor profiles are more accentuated
by fruity flavors
from different types of olive oil.
Hmm.
Now, I've gotta cook for my vegan friend.
[all laugh]
- How do you feel about grilled lettuce?
- Let's do it.
- Yeah? Awesome.
- Yeah.
Never had grilled lettuce. Have you?
- Zac, you gonna try one of these?
- Yes, please.
[chuckling]
[Zac] Oh, it's perfect. That's everything.
[Lennox] When you put it in your mouth,
you think, "Oh my God."
"What magic is this?"
It's just the art of cooking with fire.
This is it. Are you stoked?
I bet this will be
the most unbelievable chunk of lettuce
you've ever had.
[laughing]
Came all the way to Australia
for grilled lettuce.
[Zac] This is really nice. Normally,
if we were to have a food segment,
nobody would cook for Darin.
He just watches me eat.
- You've gotta cook
- [Zac] He quietly waits. It's nice of you.
- You have to cook for everyone.
- Yeah.
- [Lennox] Nobody's left out by the fire.
- [Zac] Oh, thank you.
Look at that. Wow.
- Wow!
- [Zac] Cool.
- [Darin] Wow!
- That's a beautiful dish.
See you later.
[laughing]
[Zac] He wasn't joking
when he said no one was left out.
Oh, it's perfect. That's everything.
The last dish Chef Lennox prepares
hearkens back to his early days
working at a Michelin star restaurant
in Northern Spain, paella.
And in case Darin wasn't filled up
by that lettuce,
this will be a vegan dish.
Chef Hastie's animal-free twist
on this traditional Spanish meal
is perfect for feeding a large gathering,
especially one
that's been filming all day.
As the sun goes down,
the fire becomes more communal
providing light and warmth to our group.
After seeing all of the ravages
and destruction brought about by fire
it's good to see the primal comfort
that comes along with these open flames.
Like all aspects of nature,
this powerful element
is just another to be treated
with understanding,
appreciation, and respect.
[contemplative music playing]
[Zac] Life is a ride.
- What's the secret? This is my clutch?
- Yep.
[Zac] It's filled with unexpected
All right!
bumps.
Some good, some bad.
And while you certainly
can't control what happens,
you can try to control
how you deal with it.
For it's in these heated moments
that our true character is shown.
We're going to take a closer look,
but not too close,
at the visible effect
of the process of combustion.
We had animals come in
where their hands would be burnt off.
[Zac] At its worst, the destructive power
can be devastating and deadly.
[woman] This is where our house was.
[Zac] But when managed
and controlled properly,
it's one of mankind's
greatest discoveries.
[dramatic music playing]
[Zac] Our story of fire begins
off the coast of South Australia,
where we take a quick boat ride
to reach our destination.
A 1,700-square-mile land mass
called Kangaroo Island.
In December of 2019,
lightning storms during the hottest,
driest time of the year
ignited the largest bushfires
in the history of the island.
And just like that,
46% of Kangaroo Island was burned.
Mother Nature works without a conscience,
and the diverse wildlife population
on this island
was decimated in the smoke and flames.
Sam and Dana Mitchell
are the owners and operators
of Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park,
and in the face of the fires,
these two, along with their employees
and other locals, became instant heroes
as they began the task of rescuing
any and all animals displaced or injured.
Two months now since the fires first hit.
Since then, we've seen
just under 600 animals
come through the doors, about 95% koalas.
[Zac] Sam took us for a ride
in their rescue vehicle
so we could grasp just how extensive
the fire damage was to the land.
[Sam] So you can see
this obviously had all burned.
- [Zac] All that's new growth?
- [Sam] Yeah.
Nothing that wasn't native
survived the fires,
but the Australian bush
has dealt with it before.
[Darin] Yeah, it's made for it.
Yeah, this was a big fire.
Wow.
[Sam] Every direction here is burned.
There's a patch beyond us that's not.
Jeez.
[somber music playing]
Jeez!
It's really hard to explain
the speed that it moved in.
You can see burnt-out areas,
but you drive 100 km west
and everything's burned,
and that all happened overnight,
you just gotta think how quick
this thing was really moving.
It was quite hard to see when the smoke
and ash was coming at you.
Even wearing goggles,
your eyes were burning.
Now, we've gone through one winter
since the fire,
so the paddock's greened up.
Every bit of grass Everything was black.
It was just ash, black.
The ground here,
you wouldn't see red, just ash.
[Darin] It's almost to a point where
you don't even believe it could come back.
[Sam] No.
We would go out here and check a carcass.
You'd roll it over
and wouldn't see a fly, ant, or bug.
You'd just think it was everything.
Um, everything suffered.
And it's gonna take many years
for anything to move back in.
Even a year on,
it's still a lot of work to be done.
[Zac] The damage and destruction
goes as far as the eye can see
and in every direction.
After rescuing whatever animals survived,
the next step was to bring them
to the center for rehabilitation.
[Sam] Well over a year now,
and we still got 20-odd koalas
from the bushfires
living here at the park.
- It was well over 600, wasn't it? 650.
- Yeah, over 650.
Really?
In a short period of time,
and we've released about 250.
But, unfortunately,
the rest didn't make it.
So of that 600, only 250 were
Yeah, yeah.
We weren't built to be a rescue center.
We were a tourism destination.
We did rescue and rehabilitate
some koalas and kangaroos each year.
When the fires hit,
it went from a few each year to 600
in just the two months.
- The population was booming over here.
- Wow.
It was estimated somewhere
between 50 to 60,000 koalas.
Now, somewhere between five
and 10,000 koalas left,
so about 80% of that population lost.
Oh my gosh.
- [Dana] Insane.
- And kangaroos and reptiles
Yeah, the reason we saw
the most koalas out of any other species
was they're the only animal
that didn't have a chance to get away.
The goannas and the snakes
can go somewhere underground.
The birds can fly away, the kangaroos
have a chance to hop away,
whereas the koalas are
at the top of big trees.
They see the fire coming, can't get down,
and they're not fast as it is anyways.
The very first few weeks
was probably the hardest
because we'd have animals come in
where their fingers
or their hands would be burnt off.
Oh, jeez.
We found kangaroos that had stubs
for legs two weeks after the fires,
still feeding their joeys.
That's amazing.
You guys were thrust into greatness.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, kept us busy.
[Dana] We have somebody for you to meet.
This is Mickey.
Mickey's one of our keepers [laughs]
here at the park.
- On her shoulder, she's got Pearl.
- Oh my God.
So Pearl is one
of our little bushfire rescues.
As you can see, she's very cuddly.
She's probably
one of the remaining ones who
You're welcome to pet her.
[Zac] I would!
[Dana] She's one of the koalas remaining
that was one of the most burnt
out of the joeys.
Right here. I can see.
All four of her paws,
right across her ears.
Mickey did a lot of work with me
throughout the fires
looking after the joeys,
bottle-feeding them and all that.
Pearl's definitely one
of our special little girls.
[Zac] Who's a good koala bear? You are.
Oh yeah!
I'll grab Pearl. We'll take her inside.
They don't like the sun too much.
Really? Always trying to stay cool?
We'll head inside,
and we can go say hello to Pearl in there.
- Hi, sweet thing.
- What do you think?
- Gosh, they're so cool.
- Yeah.
We'll head over this way,
inside where it's not so hot.
[Zac] So she's five kilos, you think?
- Roughly five.
- [Dana] Just under five.
- Up to 15, the males?
- Yeah. We got a big boy here.
I'll show you, and he's only 11,
but he's an impressive lump.
Wow.
Watch your feet.
There's kangaroo joeys running around.
- [Zac] "Impressive lump" just like you.
- Thank you.
[Zac] This is the moment
we've been waiting for.
We're in Australia on Kangaroo Island,
about to see kangaroos.
Inside here is where
all of the rehabilitation happens.
- Oh my God.
- Wow.
- Hi. I didn't know you guys laid down.
- [Darin] Can I go up to 'em?
[Dana] Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Sam's got some milk for them.
[Zac] I've never seen you
lay down before.
- [Darin] Hi.
- [Zac gasps]
Oh hi, buddy!
[Sam] Yeah,
this little girl come in yesterday.
[Zac] Hi, sweetheart.
- [Sam] She's not in a great way.
- [Zac] Oh.
[Sam] And little Grace behind us here.
Hi, baby.
[Sam] Beautiful little girl.
She's quite adventurous.
If you want, give these a shake.
That one is for the smaller kangaroo
behind you.
- This one is for the larger kangaroo.
- [Zac] Here you go. [kissing]
[Sam] Yeah, just
- Hi, boo boo.
- [kisses]
[Sam] They get a little bit distracted.
[Dana] Like,
"I know someone else has my bottle."
This is like the definition of dangling
a carrot. Come here, check it out.
[Dana] Both of these girls came in
from road accidents.
Both mums were unfortunately hit
and killed on the roads,
but luckily, when they are hit,
the joey in the pouch is quite protected.
Look at you, perfect balance.
Your tail, you're cheating.
I can hear his digestion.
- [Dana] Drinking it?
- His stomach.
[Zac] It should be noted baby koalas
and baby kangaroos are called joeys.
In fact, all marsupial babies
are called joeys.
[Dana] These girls are ready to go to bed.
If you hold the bag,
they should hopefully slip into it.
Jerry's already lying down.
Just hold it out and open,
they should slip in,
ready to go to bed,
and we can hang them up behind us.
Wanna go in here?
Come on. Come here.
Go on.
[Dana] Maybe. No. [chuckles]
So this little
She's gonna think this is like
- There we go.
- the pouch?
[Dana] The pouch is an artificial bag
for them to think they're in mum's pouch.
[Sam] You gotta shuffle 'em in
a little bit. Yeah.
[Darin laughs]
Look what I got. She's looking to go.
- [Dana] She's ready. She's primed now.
- [Zac] Wanna come in here?
Nope. Uh, guess not.
Denied.
- Wild animals. [chuckles]
- [Dana] Yeah.
What a trip.
Well, Darin is indeed the Joey Whisperer.
[ethereal music playing]
[Zac] Wildfires are going to happen.
It isn't about planning
for the unexpected,
it's about planning for the inevitable.
And because of climate change,
each summer, the fires are getting bigger
and spreading faster.
Sam, Dana, and others in the area
are pushing for a better infrastructure
to deal with the future.
Koalas and kangaroos are the majority
of the animals rescued here.
Because they're cute and cuddly,
people are more motivated to save them.
However, charitable donations
are used to help any and all creatures
they're equipped to rescue
and rehabilitate here.
- That includes this guy.
- [Sam] Yordi.
Hey Zac, nice to meet you.
- How are you? Darin.
- Darin, nice to meet you.
[Darin] Cool.
[Dana] She's about three years old.
She's a baby.
[Zac] Wow.
[Darin] How many reptiles
were you guys getting in?
Well, Australia has been managed
with fire for forever.
The Aboriginal people
used fire to manage this land.
Some plants here are fire-resistant.
Without fire, they don't flower or seed.
So, these animals have grown up with fire.
Some animals, like black kites,
use fire to their advantage.
When a black kite sees smoke,
he'll cook over there.
He knows there's
cooked lizards and snakes.
He doesn't have to hunt.
He can just go have a barbecue.
- [Zac] Wow.
- [Yordi] Look at that.
[Darin] Wow.
[laughing]
Ready for my close-up?
Check that out. Look at your reflection.
[chuckling]
- [Sam] Hasn't bitten anyone this week, so
- [Yordi] Yeah.
- Cool, all right. Wow.
- Awesome stuff, man.
- Good on you.
- Thank you. Awesome.
- Cheers, man. Thank you.
- Bloody oath.
[Zac] As heartbreaking as it is to witness
this aftermath of the wildfire damage,
it's uplifting to see
this community come together
to save so much of the wildlife
on Kangaroo Island.
You know how you call tell
if a kangaroo is male or female?
Females have a pouch.
Whoa! I'm no expert,
but I believe that is a male kangaroo.
The Black Summer is the name given
to the Australian bushfire season
of 2019 through 2020.
Hundreds of fires burned down
46 million acres of land.
That's 20% of the country's forests,
and thousands of buildings and homes.
It was the most devastating
wildfire season on record for the country,
all costing
an estimated $103 billion in damage.
We're here to meet a family
that lost their home, farmland, livestock.
Everything burned down to the ground.
But despite all of the loss
felt by Tom and Stephanie Wurst,
they have a message of hope and positivity
as they slowly rebuild their lives
and a better future
for their three children.
Hi, Steph. Nice to meet you.
[Stephanie] This is where our house was.
In here.
It was built in the 1950s,
so, yeah, it was about 70 years old.
And we'd just finished renovating it,
actually, so
- Oh no.
- Oh, you just
- Really?
- Yeah.
[Tom] Just had it to where we wanted it.
[Stephanie] So,
the fire came through on January 3rd,
and we weren't expecting it at all
to come this far.
But I think that was my fourth time
that I had evacuated,
and so I probably didn't pack
as much as I should have.
- [Darin] It's funny that way.
- Yeah.
It just doesn't What's essential?
Your kids and a couple things.
[Tom] That's right.
At the end of the day,
as long as people are safe, then
Right.
that's the biggest thing in my mind.
I don't know if you guys know,
but I share the misery
and the challenge of that.
I lost At the end
of our first season, I lost everything.
It's hard to deal with.
Initially, it was so shocking,
there was not one thing left on the whole
property from all our whole farm,
all the planting equipment.
There wasn't even a hammer, not one thing.
Livestock, to me, was the hardest part.
We lost a lot of livestock.
I think up to 60,000 head of livestock,
which were incinerated.
- 60,000? Oh my God.
- Jeez.
I think that's an underestimate,
but just seeing
the livestock which suffered,
and having to try
to deal with that as well, like
But the community has been amazing.
The amount of the help that just turned up
within those first few days
was just incredible.
Like, it's quite humbling.
I feel like, "Can we ever repay
everyone in the world?"
People from around the world
have done so much for us.
Sometimes I felt like it was a warm hug
coming around us
of everyone around the community.
[Zac] The community helped
Tom and Stephanie immensely
as they slowly got back on their feet.
And Stephanie soon became
a voice for the landowners
who had suffered similar losses.
Stephanie even testified
before an Australian Senate Committee
to champion the use
of Indigenous fire management practices
and other wildlife conservation
and protections.
It was a really logistical nightmare
'cause everyone had lost
most of their planting equipment
in the fires,
so there wasn't much equipment
to help with anything
around the whole farm property.
What was the plan with the cattle?
Were you able to save any?
Yeah, yeah, we probably lost
a bit over half the livestock.
Some luckily found pockets of land
and were saved.
But, yeah, dealing with them
afterwards was really hard,
'cause all the fences are burned,
there's just livestock going everywhere.
There was no feed,
which was the biggest concern.
There was obviously no pasture, no hay.
We lost our crops, the hay, everything,
so there was no feed for what we had left.
Do you feel like it's bonded you two
and the family together even more?
Yeah. Uh, there's definitely been
ups and downs, though.
- Hasn't there, Jack? [laughs]
- [Darin] Yeah. For sure.
- Not all downs.
- It's not all easy, at all.
Um, there's been some really hard times,
hasn't there?
There's also been some very good times.
Yeah,
there's been some really good times too.
[Zac] Now, it's time for some fun.
Tom and Stephanie's son Jack
will give me a lesson in driving
this big red tractor.
Whoo! Yeah!
[upbeat music playing]
[engine revving]
This is not gonna go well for me. [laughs]
Oh, he's making it look easy.
There's only room for two up here,
so Darin's gonna have to sit this one out.
Yeah, that works. Dirt bike. Perfect.
You jump on and show Zac.
All right. Wow, there's a lot of controls.
[Darin] Hey, good luck, Zac!
- What's the secret? This is my clutch?
- Yep.
So, mostly you want to get
Push that into forwards.
- Yep.
- Right. Now we're going forward?
Clutch on.
- [Zac] Clutch on?
- [Jack] And up to first.
- [Zac] Clutch on?
- [Jack] And up to first.
[Zac] All right!
Yoo!
Let's see how fast this thing goes.
I think that's fourth.
See you! [laughs]
[Jack grunts]
Make sure you hold on.
Got 'em. All right, thanks, sensei.
[Jack] Back it up.
[Zac] Yee-hoo!
Whoo!
Oh!
Think we ran over something.
Hey!
Hay!
These guys look hungry.
[imitates cow mooing]
Little fact, the average cow eats
about 24 pounds of hay per day.
I'm just throwing that out there.
What a day.
[Jack] They like that.
[Zac] Should we shut this off
while the cows eat?
[Jack] Yeah.
There we go.
This was incredibly satisfying,
and I'm not even talking
about driving the tractor,
although that was pretty cool.
- [cows mooing]
- [imitates cows mooing]
You're Maverick, I'm Goose.
That's from a movie you haven't seen yet,
but you'll love one day, called Top Gun.
A year ago, this family lost everything.
But it was just stuff,
and they always had each other.
Now, they're getting
back on their feet again
with more cattle, and a way to feed them.
They're back doing
what they love, together.
I think I'm done with movies.
- You weren't even injured.
- On to the farm. Thank you.
- See you.
- You guys are so sweet.
Oh, thanks for coming.
Really enjoyed having guys here.
Yeah, thanks for having us.
Congratulations, guys.
Baby left home ♪
She never came back ♪
[Zac] There's a lot
modern society can learn
from the old traditions
and methods of the past.
With the destruction
from the fires here in Australia,
it's more important than ever
to listen to those voices.
Today, we'll learn the technique
of cool fires or cultural burns,
with the Gerringong Rangers.
This technique dates back
thousands of years
and was created by the Aboriginal people
as a way to manage
potential wildfire damage.
Growing up in California,
I know about prescribed burning,
which is a similar idea.
It'll be interesting to see
how the Aboriginals did it.
- You get nervous before you do this?
- [ranger] Sometimes I do.
It'll depend on how big
the area that we're gonna burn.
Closest I ever got to starting a fire
I tried to light a bonfire
with gasoline one time,
and it lit up in a fireball.
- It went all around me.
- [laughs] Yeah.
I lost my eyebrows, my eyelashes.
Looked pretty funny in my school pictures.
No, we're not showing that school photo.
Seems like wildfires are getting
worse and worse. But why?
- Whoa! What are you doing here?
- I've always been here.
Since the dawn of time,
lightning's been striking the earth,
igniting random fires
and causing brush to burn.
So all of these recent fires
aren't caused by global warming?
No single wildfire can be blamed
directly on climate change,
but wildfires are becoming
more frequent, bigger, and longer
because of higher temperatures.
What's the difference?
[fire] A steady increase in carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere
is causing the average temperatures
on Earth to rise.
The increased temperatures in turn
cause longer, hotter fire seasons,
what we know as summers.
The seasonal heat dries up
the soil, trees, and other vegetation,
making them all more vulnerable
to damaging pests.
All of this dried and dead vegetation
is just fuel waiting to be ignited.
Lightning is usually
the natural cause of wildfires,
and higher temperatures
cause more lightning,
about 10% for every one degree.
Why does nature cause
brush fires in the first place?
It's nature's way
of keeping the forest healthy.
Fires clear out the underbrush,
clean the forest floor,
and return the area to a healthier state.
There you have it.
More chances for ignition,
a tinderbox of dry fuel,
and a longer summer season
for it to happen.
[Zac] So that's why we're getting
more destructive wildfires
all over the globe, year after year.
[fire] Keep in mind, in the US,
80 to 90% of wildfires
were caused by human activity,
like careless campers,
faulty power lines, and even arson.
Oh, that reminds me.
Now that the forest is healthy again.
You better put me out.
Oh. Good call.
Bye!
[Zac] Aboriginal use of fire
as a tool to manage the forest
dates back tens of thousands of years.
The concept is fairly simple.
Regular low-intensity burning
of the underbrush in small sections
depletes the forest
of natural fuel for wildfires.
In turn, the soil becomes more fertile,
and the larger trees are able to survive
if and when the next fires strike.
Yep. Marker.
[ranger] We'll hop out here.
[Zac] Traditionally, the Aboriginals
believe these burns
have a spiritual connection
with the land, and rightly so.
They're using the powerful element
of fire to protect their home,
a concept at which the original colonists
balked and eventually marveled,
because it seems crazy, yet it works.
Film crew and everyone,
I want to show you something.
Just so you don't bump into it.
This week, I did.
Over here.
Green ants nest here.
And they'll sting the bejesus out of you.
Wow. Green ants.
I've never heard of green ants.
I'll just assume
they're far worse than red ants.
Cool.
Next, it's time to start the actual fire.
Obviously, these are trained rangers
with proper permits and equipment,
and nobody should
ever attempt this on their own.
First, the healthy tree stumps
are cleared of debris and brush
to minimize the potential damage
that will be done by the fire.
- Let's go for it.
- Yeah. Let's go for it.
[Zac] There's a very ceremonial process
to starting the burn.
Clarence will light the very first fire
in the most traditional way possible.
No lighter or match used.
This is started by the friction
of a stick against a piece of wood.
If you want to have a first go,
you can have a try.
- Like that?
- You're a natural.
Smoking already.
Oh yeah.
No, try to keep in there and not go
Okay.
This is how it's been done
for tens of thousands of years,
and trees like this one
are still standing because of it.
Good. Gently blow now.
[suspenseful music playing]
Now.
Look at these [beeps] ants.
[laughing]
They're everywhere!
[ranger] Welcome to North Queensland!
[laughing]
[Zac] Oh, there we go.
This is crazy.
It feels like the exact opposite
of what you're supposed to do
with fire in the woods.
- Wow.
- Okay.
[Zac] I keep reminding myself that
this tradition is thousands of years old.
Now that the flame is lit,
they'll use matches, which are still wood,
and therefore keeping close
to the tradition.
They will do this
over and over and over today.
This is a very different experience
with fire.
It's treating fire as a friend,
as a partner,
using it as a tool
to prevent an uncontrolled wildfire
from ravaging the forest
and all that live in it.
[ranger] With this cultural burn,
because it's a slow burn, cool burn,
and it'll allow all the animals
to get away quickly
out of the burning area.
It will also promote grass growth
that sometimes grows
in patches in the open forest,
and it allows wallabies
and them to come graze
on the young shoots, and
So you're sort of resetting the soil?
Yeah, resetting the soil,
and some of the vegetation here
that does need fire to germinate.
[Zac] Modern Aboriginal involvement
in fire control is fairly new,
but it's a much-needed voice
for the process and the community.
[ranger] We've been burning in places
that haven't been burned for 30 years.
[Zac] Jeez.
You've got 30 years of fuel lying there.
That's a terrible wildfire waiting.
- [Zac] That's a fire waiting to happen.
- [ranger] Just gonna go off, yeah.
It's interesting. Goes against everything
in your instinct that's good
for the forest. Yet it is.
Yeah. That's what people
have to realize in regards to fire.
It can be a healer of the country as well.
[Zac] Fire as a healer.
That's an incredible concept.
[Darin] This really does a lot for me,
because I lost my house
in California to fire,
and I really feel like if this was done,
it could have prevented the big fire
that destroyed everything.
I feel like this is a proactive thing
that we should be learning
from the Indigenous people.
[ranger] Yeah.
[Darin] So I'm really grateful
for this experience.
[Zac] The fire will burn for about
an hour, clearing out the undergrowth
and eventually dying out on its own.
About 17 acres were cleared today.
Thanks to volunteers like these,
the tradition will continue
to be passed down to the next generation.
This ancient Aboriginal ceremony
is a holistic approach
that takes into account
everything within the environment.
Which trees will burn and which won't,
the amount of undergrowth
that will serve as fuel,
and the direction
the winds will carry the flames.
And if adopted more,
can offer better sustainability
and wildlife protection to forests
all over this country and others.
[woman speaking over radio]
Oh, that's the ants!
[ranger] Yeah. Green ants?
[Zac] Oy!
[ranger] Pretty fierce when they wanna be.
[Zac] Just when you thought it was safe
Ow! !
there's the green ants.
[laughs]
- Where are they coming from?
- Your neck.
[Zac] We knew this would happen, right?
Let's get out of here.
[laughing]
Oh, they got a cool little bite on 'em.
[laughing]
Okay. I, marker.
[laughing]
[vibrant music playing]
[Zac] A more positive part of our journey
about flames and smoke brings us here
just south of Sydney
on this beautiful beach,
to meet a chef who stepped out
of more traditional kitchens
[Darin] Come on.
[Zac] and into the fire.
This is Chef Lennox Hastie,
a renowned culinary artist
featured on Chef's Table: BBQ.
And in his world-class
restaurant Firedoor,
he doesn't use an oven or a stove,
no gas or electricity.
He has perfected the art of cooking
with his favorite ingredient, wood.
Luckily, he didn't mind
bringing his kitchen to us,
here by the Pacific Ocean, for a lesson
on cooking over an open flame.
- Amazing.
- How's it going?
- Zac. Nice to meet you.
- [Darin] Hey, chef.
- Darin. Pleasure.
- Welcome to the outdoor kitchen.
- [Zac] Oh wow! Look at this setup!
- [Darin] This is incredible.
[Lennox] I've been burning this
for a couple of hours.
This is the ember stage.
That's the thing about fire,
you have to always preempt it.
Every day starts,
the first thing a chef does
is light a fire and go from there.
And then the different types of wood here
give you different scenarios
for the fire and the heat?
Yeah, you'll see variances in the wood,
whether it's fruit trees,
or whether it's really intense.
The base we use is a type of red gum
which is called ironbark,
which is really dense.
One of the densest woods in the world.
- [Zac] Wow. Feel that. It's like a brick.
- Yeah. It's almost petrified.
[Lennox] Yeah, so harder to light,
but really intense heat
for a long period of time,
which is obviously really different
from any of this driftwood
when you're out on the beach. Super light.
It's just understanding,
A, the form of heat
and what each wood gives you,
but also the flavor profile,
the characteristic of the wood,
the smell, the aromacy.
When did you lock on to fire?
For me, I think all of us
have early memories as kids,
cooking with fire, campfires,
bringing people
together for a celebration.
But as a chef, I managed
to find a grill restaurant
in the Basque Mountains
many years ago, like 15, 16 years ago.
- Where's that?
- In the north of Spain.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
Grilling is part of the Basque tradition.
All around the world,
you find pockets of traditional cultures.
The bastions, the guardians
of their tradition,
hanging on to it as much as possible
because it's part of the culture,
it's what makes us us.
Did you cook with them there?
I went there for a year,
fell in love with the style,
and spent the next five years there
just absorbing, learning, increasing
my knowledge as much as possible.
Most of it through experimentation.
Cooking outdoors is so primal.
You gotta understand,
you yourself are an ingredient,
an integral part of the process.
This is an interactive sport.
[Darin] I love that, what you just said.
You are an ingredient
to this whole process.
- That's cool.
- Yeah.
We got some beautiful school prawns.
So again, that idea
of "shrimp on the barbie."
[Zac] Cool.
So really small school prawns,
locally harvested just up the river.
I'll use a mist of oil.
So, we use a grape-seed oil.
Neutral flavor, high temperature.
You're just giving exactly what it needs.
You're not brushing with olive oil,
not tossing in olive oil.
If you do that
I don't know if you barbecue,
but I've had people come to me,
"Everything's engulfed in flames."
They'll brush it with olive oil.
- That's my experience.
- [Lennox] Exactly.
Suddenly it's flare-up,
and then, "Oh my God!"
It's fire, everyone panics.
"[bleeps] What's happening?" It's crazy.
Got a bit of chili and garlic there,
got some sea purslane.
The beautiful thing is,
the more you do it, the more you learn.
I do it because it brings me
in close contact with the ingredients,
but I also do it
because every day is different.
Once this is up to heat,
you'll have these pipis.
[Zac] Beautiful. What's the difference
between a pipi
- [Lennox] A pipi?
- [Zac]and other shellfish?
When I first came to Australia,
I was living on the east coast
and used to do the pipi shuffle
in the sand.
I found a few of those accidentally.
A pipi just pops up between your toes.
It's that misconception of
Pipis became essentially baitfish,
weren't a food staple.
If you go back to Indigenous culture,
it's just something they eat.
If you look at the middens
dating back 60,000 years,
alongside oysters,
you'll find pipi shells.
- [Zac] Wow.
- That's a beautiful food source.
And this beautiful garlic.
Oh my God. I'm so stoked. [laughs]
This is so good.
You just bring that all together.
That flavor of the wood smoke,
and the vegetable, the school prawn.
Little bit of garlic, bring it together.
- Salt's perfect.
- Whole thing, head and all.
- Sweet. Nutty.
- Oh my gosh.
[soft guitar playing]
[chuckling]
You see these pipis is open.
[Zac] They got their tongues out, look.
[Lennox] You want to capture them,
their juices,
that makes for a really good sauce.
Do you use butter or anything like that?
No, I don't.
It's something I don't cook with anymore.
- Really? At all?
- [Lennox] Yeah.
I found that with fire, it was masking
the natural flavor of the ingredients.
- Oh wow.
- Which is far more
Those flavor profiles are more accentuated
by fruity flavors
from different types of olive oil.
Hmm.
Now, I've gotta cook for my vegan friend.
[all laugh]
- How do you feel about grilled lettuce?
- Let's do it.
- Yeah? Awesome.
- Yeah.
Never had grilled lettuce. Have you?
- Zac, you gonna try one of these?
- Yes, please.
[chuckling]
[Zac] Oh, it's perfect. That's everything.
[Lennox] When you put it in your mouth,
you think, "Oh my God."
"What magic is this?"
It's just the art of cooking with fire.
This is it. Are you stoked?
I bet this will be
the most unbelievable chunk of lettuce
you've ever had.
[laughing]
Came all the way to Australia
for grilled lettuce.
[Zac] This is really nice. Normally,
if we were to have a food segment,
nobody would cook for Darin.
He just watches me eat.
- You've gotta cook
- [Zac] He quietly waits. It's nice of you.
- You have to cook for everyone.
- Yeah.
- [Lennox] Nobody's left out by the fire.
- [Zac] Oh, thank you.
Look at that. Wow.
- Wow!
- [Zac] Cool.
- [Darin] Wow!
- That's a beautiful dish.
See you later.
[laughing]
[Zac] He wasn't joking
when he said no one was left out.
Oh, it's perfect. That's everything.
The last dish Chef Lennox prepares
hearkens back to his early days
working at a Michelin star restaurant
in Northern Spain, paella.
And in case Darin wasn't filled up
by that lettuce,
this will be a vegan dish.
Chef Hastie's animal-free twist
on this traditional Spanish meal
is perfect for feeding a large gathering,
especially one
that's been filming all day.
As the sun goes down,
the fire becomes more communal
providing light and warmth to our group.
After seeing all of the ravages
and destruction brought about by fire
it's good to see the primal comfort
that comes along with these open flames.
Like all aspects of nature,
this powerful element
is just another to be treated
with understanding,
appreciation, and respect.
[contemplative music playing]