Why Northern Beaches firefighters risked their lives in viral video
A volunteer firefighter from the northern beaches has revealed why his crew drove into the heart of a raging firestorm, after frightening vision, taken by a colleague, went viral. SEE THE FOOTAGE.
Manly
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The captain of a Rural Fire Service crew whose dramatic video of them driving into a firestorm at Rainbow Flat has gone viral revealed why they risked their lives and what happened after the camera stopped rolling.
Captain Luke Robinson, 28, from the Warringah/Pittwater HQ Rural Fire Brigade, said the volunteer crew had received a call from a frightened man whose home was surrounded by flames.
The footage captured by Deputy Captain Christian McGowan shows how despite the hellish conditions along the 1.5km narrow trail – thick smoke and with fires raging on both sides – they pressed on to reach him.
Capt Robinson – who is in the red helmet in the front of the truck in the video – said they decided to undertake the operation because they knew a man’s life was at stake.
But he said the fire wasn’t their only concern.
“We were not scared, but in those situations there is always the risk of trees falling down which was in the back of our minds,” he told the Manly Daily.
The crew were 20km south of Taree on Friday when they were told by a resident who had fled that their neighbour had stayed to defend his property 1.5km down a trail.
“I got the gentleman’s phone number and rang him about five minutes prior and he said he was safe and no fire,” Capt Robinson said.
“About one to two minutes later he rang me back and said he was now surrounded by fire.
“He was scared and wanted help to get out so I got a truck to assist and we set off down the trail to protect him and his property.
“After the video stopped, I raced to the house with another officer to check on the gentleman’s welfare and set crews up to protect the property.
“The house was saved and the gentleman and his pets, one dog and two cats were safe.
“There was some partial damage to other buildings such as his garage.”
Capt Robinson said the man in his 50s was shaken by the terrifying incident.
He also warned the man’s plan to get to the river 20m away through bush land was flawed.
“By the time he decided he needed to get out there was a wall of flames between him and the river,” he said.
“He would not have made it.”
Capt Robinson, whose partner Chelsea Varga, 30, is also an RFS volunteer and Captain of the Coal and Candle Brigade in Terrey Hills, said travelling along that trail was not something they would do unless they had to.
“It’s a risk versus reward scenario,” he said.
RFS crews from the northern beaches have been on regular deployment with other volunteers up the northern NSW coast since September 5. They have been working five-day shifts, one day travel there, three days on and one day back. Often they have worked longer than their allotted 12 hour shifts.
Capt Robinson said he had seen scenes of utter devastation with house upon house burnt down, even the fire stations.
“I have been in the RFS for 10 years and remember many fires from before this time and these are without doubt the worst conditions I have seen,” he said.
“They are the worst conditions and the worst fires.”
Capt Robinson returned to the beaches on Saturday following his last deployment and was at work today as a facilities officer in the city.
Tomorrow, where there is a catastrophic fire warning across the Greater Sydney area and a severe warning on the northern beaches, he said he will be on standby at the station at Warringah HQ waiting to find out whether he will be needed on the peninsula or elsewhere.
He said there was significant risk on the peninsula tomorrow and people living near a bush zone should make plans and to consider evacuating tonight or early tomorrow if they are in a danger zone.