Phil Williams (left) and Lieutenant Phil Butler both from the Caloundra station
As any Australian knows, bushfires are horrifying and at times so totally destructive that the desolation left in their wake is akin to a nuclear disaster.
Early in October, the Sunshine Coast was alerted to the start of the fire season, when two grass fires threatened Sunrise Beach and Bald Knob on the Hinterland. Scores of fire fighters turned out with one main aim in view – to protect people and their homes.
The Coast fire quickly threatened hundreds of homes at Sunshine, Sunrise and Castaways beaches. It was tackled by more than 100 fire fighters including auxiliary fire fighter, Phil Williams (cover photo) from Caloundra.
“It does get scary and you need your wits about you”, says, Phil who fought both the Sunrise Beach and Bald Knob grass fires three days apart. While he’s an experienced fireman, Phil is all too aware of the unpredictability of fire in the bush, and how quickly it can threaten his own life, as well as those whose properties he is trying to save.
Unpredictable it maybe, but these days the outbreak of fire triggers a military-type response from a fire service that is tightly structured by rank. In the case of the recent Coast and Hinterland fires, an incident control centre was quickly set up and the most senior incident control officer on duty takes charge.
Russell Thompson, the acting superintendent for the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, Caloundra station was in charge of both the recent Coast and Hinterland fires, coordinating crews from the urban, rural and auxiliary ranks.
Homes under threat at Sunshine Beach
The eerie aftermath of a bushfire
The Bald Knob fire started in Hovard Road about 1pm on October 3 and threatened homes as it raced up the hill to Eagle’s Nest Court. Residents spent the day trying to fight the fire with garden hoses as flames got to within 15 metres of their homes. Seven fire crews from around the Coast and Hinterland were called to the blaze which was put out at about 6pm.
Russell Thompson said conditions were really against them because of a strong north wind pushing the fire quickly uphill and with an incline that was inaccessible.
“It was the three Helitac water-bombing helicopters based at Archerfield that saved the day”, says Russell. “We were fortunate to find a property owner on the flat who let the helicopters pull the water from his dam”, he added.
Russell was also pleased to see that most of the properties around Bald Knob had good fire breaks.
“When it comes to property we look at the defendable and the undefendable. It’s a hard line to take sometimes, letting a fire take a property. But it’s only a small percentage of owners who want to stay in touch with nature by allowing trees to grow up around their houses. And that may put our crews in danger. So, if those properties are in the course of the fire then the safety of our fire crews comes first”.
What concerns Russell and others in the fire service is how such fires start. “I like to find the reason, and it may be power lines, backburning that’s gone wrong, a discarded cigarette or lightning”, says Russell. What he can’t predict or find a reason for is arson. The Coast fire for example, is known to have been started by a couple of 14 year-old boys flicking matches into the grass.
Phil Williams is one of a number of auxiliary and rural fire fighters who have day jobs which are often disrupted during the fire season. Phil is a floor sander by trade and has been an auxiliary fireman for five years. After the Coast fire Phil got home at 3am in the morning and then had to be up three hours later to go to work.
Russell Thompson believes employers who have fire fighters on their payrolls are to be applauded for the unspoken social work they do.
“They keep paying their workers and without their support what we do simply would not happen”.
Fire fighters are trained to world’s best practice says Russell Thompson. “So it’s not surprising that we sometimes send our fire fighters to help out in places as far away as Indonesia and America”.
Many fire fighters like Phil Williams are driven by a strong commitment that ensures we have an effective and well motivated fire fighting service.
“We know what we’re doing and we love what we’re doing”, says Phil. “Still, I always walk away pretty happy that I am safe, and that I can look forward to going home to my wife and two children”.
Photos courtesy of Andrej Kadacik
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