Limitless praise for volunteer firefighters saving Territory communities
TERRITORY firefighters have had one of their toughest weeks in recent memory, with many volunteers sacrificing much to help contain the raging flames
Northern Territory
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TERRITORY firefighters have had one of their toughest weeks in recent memory, with many volunteers sacrificing paid jobs and time with family and friends to help contain the raging flames.
Those who have fought the hellish fires – volunteers, professionals and townsfolk – are true heroes.
They have saved homes, livelihoods and lives.
Darwin River Volunteer Bushfire Brigade captain Karen (Kaz) Percival is in her second season as the fire captain.
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At last week’s Darwin River fire, Kaz was leading the crew back into a burnt mango orchard, ensuring all the burning logs were contained and the chance of reignition was minimal.
As the team worked, the late nights turned into early mornings and the week never seemed to end but she said it was all part of the job.
“We do what we have to do,” she said.
“It’s fairly quiet this year which is a nice thing but we still have our flare-ups – we just have to keep on top of it.”
Working alongside a lot of experienced heads, her colleagues are comfortable with her leading them through the scorched grass to the front line, directing them as their captain.
Darwin River Volunteer Bushfire Brigade caretaker Ray Nicholls said Ms Percival kept getting better at her job with every day that passed and every fire that was fought.
“I’ve known Karen a couple of years now and she’s excellent,” he said.
Bushfires NT Incident Control manager Joshua Fischer said without volunteers like Ms Percival, the fires may still be going and could have been much more destructive.
“The containment of the fires could only be achieved through hard work of staff and volunteers,” he said.
“This has been a full-on week, we’ve had catastrophic fire danger and it has certainly been an enormous team effort to come together to help protect the NT communities.
“My heartfelt thanks goes out to volunteers and their family members and employers for allowing them to keep the Northern Territory safe.”
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With about 35 volunteers on hand each day, the number at each fire is spread pretty thin.
But Mr Fischer said they couldn’t be valued any higher, with the door always open for those looking to assist.
“We have about 450 volunteers but just by the nature that they are volunteers they are not always available.” he said.
“We’d encourage all community members to join their brigade, become involved and protect their local community.”
Originally published as Limitless praise for volunteer firefighters saving Territory communities