But firefighters don't want us to see heroes, because calling them heroes overstates their ability to control fires and downplays the long-term psychological impacts of fighting fires.

That's what we've learned after interviewing Black Saturday firefighters 10 years after the tragedy, as part of an ongoing research project exploring the role of memory and commemoration in organisational planning.

As we listen to their recollections of that day, there is no doubt they engaged in heroic acts and need to be remembered for their bravery. But when we laud firefighters as heroes, we fail to acknowledge the ongoing impact of the fires. As one firefighter told us:

Government funding for firefighting needs to make provision for counselling services for firefighters dealing with the long-term psychological effects of fighting fires.

Several firefighters talked about "deliberately trying not to remember because it is so difficult". For others, remembering together was part of the healing process.

Over the past decade, memorials have been erected in communities affected by the Black Saturday fires. But firefighters we spoke to were concerned that creating memorials allowed communities and authorities to relegate the fires and their impact to the past.

Scholars of commemoration have observed that giving monumental form to memory can enable us to divest ourselves of the obligation to remember. It's as if the memorial does the remembering for us.

Rather than building memorials, firefighting organisations need to commemorate through forms of collective communing, where knowledge is shared by older, experienced hands with new firefighters.

This communal commemoration could build on the informal forms of commemoration that firefighters told us they prefer - sitting around the fire truck, sharing stories. Staff rides, for instance, a tactical walk retracing the steps of those involved in a major fire, is an effective way of passing on knowledge while also remembering and honouring the work of firefighters.

Black Saturday firefighters we spoke to urged memorialisation to elicit a call to action.

Firefighters don't want a roll call of heroes, but for communities to remember the lessons we have learnt from past fires and to ensure they have a bushfire plan and to heed warnings to leave.

As one firefighter said about the Black Saturday anniversary:

Collective memory carries an ethical obligation. In commemorating firefighters as heroes, we can fall into the danger of overstating their ability to control fires, absolving ourselves of responsibility.

Rather than simply valorising and memorialising firefighters as heroes, all levels of governments need to accept responsibility for their role in mitigating future bushfire impacts.

This means ensuring the landscape is managed appropriately, that our firefighters have the resources to fight fires, and that there is effective, science-based climate policy.