Shane Fitzsimmons’ ‘bittersweet’ reaction to top award
The former NSW rural fire commissioner says the black summer fires will be etched in Australians’ memories forever.
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Former New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says his announcement as the state’s person of the year is “bittersweet”, given the devastation of last summer’s bushfire season.
Mr Fitzsimmons rose to prominence during the 2019-20 bushfire crisis, where he was lauded for leading the country through an unprecedented summer.
Speaking to Today, he described the award as “truly humbling and overwhelming”.
But he conceded a “bittersweet” element to it, because the desolation of the summer cannot be undone and “will be etched in our memories forever”.
He is now in the running for Australian of the Year.
Twenty-six people were killed and just under 2500 houses were lost in NSW over the summer, when bushfires raged across the state between August 2019 and March 2020.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian congratulated Mr Fitzsimmons, saying “all of NSW will be forever grateful for your leadership during such a difficult time for New South Wales”.
Mr Fitzsimmons revealed the crisis had taken an emotional toll on him, saying “my heart was broken many, many times during the last season”.
But he was uplifted by Australians’ response to adversity.
“The thing that was really inspiring … was the outpouring of love, care, compassion, and extraordinary generosity”, he said. “We are seeing that great old Aussie spirit of mate helping mate shining through in this difficult and challenging 2020.”
In April, Mr Fitzsimmons stood down as RFS NSW commissioner after 12 years in the role. He will head up a new agency, Resilience NSW, which aims to co-ordinate government preparedness for crises such as COVID-19.
He beat out #buyfromthebush founder Grace Brennan and former Socceroo and refugee ambassador Craig Foster.
The Australian of the Year will be announced on January 25.
Originally published as Shane Fitzsimmons’ ‘bittersweet’ reaction to top award