Community thanks volunteers for efforts
SOME may describe them as ‘ordinary heroes’ but for the unassuming men and women of our rural fire brigades, their selfless efforts to defend the lives and property of others are nothing short of superhuman. While many residents are deeply grateful for their efforts, many would not realise just how close Landsborough came to disaster over the weekend of October 28-29, nor can fully imagine the grit and strength of character it takes to stand up and fight a fire; especially one of that intensity and magnitude.
The massive Landsborough fire of October 28-29 ripped through over 600 hectares of forestry between Beerwah and Landsborough provoking a multi-agency response. Resources were drawn from Rural Fire volunteer crews, Queensland Fire and Emergency services, Queensland Police Service (QPS), Queensland Parks and Wildlife(QPWS), Sunshine Coast Council and HQPlantations; with seasoned fire-fighters on the front-line describing the ferocious ordeal as ‘very confronting.’ With the recent spate of major fire activity both locally and around the state, already fatigued crews are being required to go ‘above and beyond’ in order to protect their communities.
Beerwah Rural Fire Brigade First Officer, Lou Spann, said the brigade had 12 volunteers who were available to step up and battle the blaze which he said ‘came very close’ to impacting the town.
He said the risk to lives and properties didn’t alleviate until around 11.30pm on the Saturday night, before flaring up again on Sunday October 29.
“At the end of the day, the one thing that stopped the Landsborough fire was the guts and determination of our crews and the people fighting it,” he said.
Lou said in the face of adversity when combatting a fast moving or intense fire, it all comes down to training and the depth of knowledge of the people leading the teams. He said even after nearly 30 years as a volunteer firefighter, it could still be very confronting but it was important to ‘keep a cool head’.
“I had crew members saying this was the biggest and worst fire they had ever seen. You have something in front of you that you are not in control of until you get control lines and get some position that is reasonably safe for what you are defending. For our new members that can be the most terrifying experience they’ve ever had,” he said.
He admitted there were points where he had grave concerns as the crews kept upscaling the numbers called in. He described facing the fire like being in a unpredictable battle that changed course continuously.
“Our final containment line was always Steve Irwin Way. It had to be there because you had houses and the town on the other side. Once you get into a built up area it’s much harder to defend. So that was our ultimate goal and it came very close there at the end, but our crews were brilliant, they just came in, were very focused, and did their thing!” he said.
Glass House Mountains Rural Fire Brigade First Officer, Anthony Rook, said he had nine volunteers from the brigade at the Landsborough fire and said they all felt ‘bloody lucky’ to have it finally contained as a fire of that intensity ‘just did not pull up at the various fire break’. He said one of the biggest challenges was the unfavourable conditions and winds which kept embers spotting forward and starting fires ahead of the main front which ‘was a bit of pain’.
“This is just what we do. We do our best to get out there and stand ground because we know this could be what ends up saving lives and we just do this to help protect our community,” Anthony said.
Landsborough Rural Fire Brigade First Officer, Mark Jakeman, said around 30 volunteers rotated throughout the weekend and there were some ‘hairy moments and very intense fire activity’.
“We are just another locally run group here to protect our community.
We all had a common goal to defend our community. It was just a rewarding end to the day when we were finally able to contain that fire and know we been able to keep our community safe,” he said.
