Warrandyte CFA volunteers Bec Watters and James White are joint trophy winners and Pride of Australia Medal nominees

TWENTYSOMETHING volunteer firefighters Bec Watters and James White are showing that self-sacrifice is not just the domain of previous generations.

Ray Bellinger award

IT’S their dedication and willingness to prioritise volunteer work above all else which makes these twentysomethings a cut above the rest.

Warrandyte CFA volunteers Bec Watters and James White were jointly named winners of the Ray Bellinger firefighter of the year trophy at the recent annual brigade awards. They have also been nominated for a Pride of Australia Medal.

While many firefighters went to battle the Hazelwood Coal Mine blaze, Ms Watters, 20, was among the youngest of volunteers and said the mine became “a home away from home”.

Ms Watters, of Park ­Orchards, worked four full days, waking up about 4am to catch a lift and returning home just before midnight.

“I got to see a different side of fire fighting,” she said.

“As the fire is underground, it’s about soaking the ground with water.”

She said teams worked with machinery digging up the ground and thermal ­imaging camera crews were locating the fires from helicopters above.

“Our oxygen levels were monitored and some people were sent home,” she said.

Ms Watters also battled fires in Warrandyte, Kangaroo Ground, and in Yaapeet, near Mildura.

Her dad is the fifth lieutenant at the Warrandyte brigade, and has been volunteering for 12 years.

When she’s not serving the community, she plays and coaches basketball, studies childcare and hopes to get into teaching.

Mr White, 21, has been a volunteer for close to five years and recently began his training to become a police officer. He jumped on as many strike teams as possible during the stressful 2013-14 fire season.

Working at the Gladysdale fire in February, he was fighting blazes in the bush, knee-deep in dust.

“At the CFA, we’re learning things you can’t learn in schools or in a book,” he said.

“At Hazelwood we were focusing on the bush fire at the pine plantation.”

Growing up in Warrandyte, he saw the huge benefit the CFA provided to the community and wanted to join. Warrandyte CFA captain Adrian Mullens was also recognised for committing to 1600 call-outs.

Nominations for the Pride of Australia Medal have now closed, with ­Victorian finalists to be ­announced in the Sunday Herald Sun on September 28.