NSW bushfires: Painful recovery for gutsy firefighters Irene Pachos and Daryl Aldridge
Firefighters Irene Pachos and Daryl Aldridge know how close they came to losing their lives when a “widow-maker” gum tree crashed down on their truck.
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Firefighters Irene Pachos and Daryl Aldridge know how close they came to losing their lives when a “widow-maker” gum tree crashed down on their truck.
Ms Pachos, 54, was released from hospital just last week, only half-joking that she is 4mm shorter than she was at the time of the accident on November 10.
Mr Aldridge, also 54, was only allowed to remove his neck brace three weeks ago.
How lucky they were hit home in December when young dads and Rural Fire Service volunteers Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and Andrew O’Dwyer, 36, died together in the cab of their Horsley Park brigade fire truck after it was struck by a falling tree at Buxton, south of Sydney.
“I was quite emotional when I heard about that. It affected me quite a bit, ” Ms Pachos said.
“I knew it could have gone the other way for us. I know how blessed I am to be able to walk.”
Both of them joined Fire and Rescue NSW three years ago.
They were part of the crew of four in the Nambucca Heads 397 truck called to help the Macksville 371 truck fight back flames from the Kian Road fire threatening a property at Congarini in the state’s north.
It took four hours to save the home and the trucks left in convoy, with Macksville leading when it stopped to cut a tree that had fallen on the track.
The message from the Macksville incident controller came through for help, so Ms Pachos started to climb out of the back cab where she was sitting with Mr Aldridge.
Then the 12-tonne tree, more than 60 metres tall, crashed down onto the back of the cab.
“371 saw it all happening and they said the whole truck lifted off the ground several times,” Ms Pachos said.
“The tree did not look burnt from the front. It could not have been prevented. The whole side of the truck was squashed down.”
She was thrown to the ground and her colleague was trapped in the cab.
She remembers the Nambucca driver, Les McQueen, asking if they were OK.
“Daryl mumbled he was fine even though he wasn’t,” Ms Pachos said. “I was lying on my side and straight away I knew I had spinal injuries.”
She was flown to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital.
“We are lucky to be alive,” Mr Aldridge said.
Ms Pachos suffered torn ligaments in her neck and spinal fractures with part of a bone breaking off and spearing 3mm into her spinal canal.
A petite 1.57m tall, the fitness instructor said she has lost about 4mm in height.
They are both hoping to get back to work as soon as they are strong enough to carry the 25kg of gear including breathing apparatus.
“I’m quite strong for my size,” the mother of a 25-year-old son said. “I always wanted to join the fire brigade. I thought, my son has grown up, I changed my life and I thought I’m going to do what I want to do,” she said.