Beerwah officer awarded top honour
By Sonia Isaacs
BEERWAH police officer, Senior Constable Tim Jessup, has been recognised for outstanding bravery and exceptional dedication to duty.
Senior Constable Jessup was awarded one of the state’s top honours, the Bravery Medal, as well as an Assistant Commissioner’s Certificate at a special presentation ceremony held last week on the Sunshine Coast.
At the ceremony, Snr Constable Jessup was recognised for his valour in response to a 2018 residential fire that saw him enter a smoke-filled building to search for occupants. It was later revealed that the unit fire was a Domestic Violence (DV) Arson incident.
Snr Constable Jessup said he still recalled the ferocity of the heat from the September 26, 2018 Earlville incident which he responded to while stationed as an officer in Cairns.
“The heat was tremendous, and at the time I didn’t fully realise the magnitude of the intensity,” he said.
Speaking to GC&M News, Snr Constable Jessup said he had never experienced such a confronting physical and mental situation where, when entering the smoke filled residence, his body was instinctively resisting the signals to go in further.
He said initially, he and his police partner had been doing a routine evening street patrol when they witnessed an “orange glow” coming from a residential unit complex.
“At first we weren’t sure what it was, and then we saw smoke billowing out from the unit’s sliding door and just moved quickly without much thought,” he said.
The officers entered the smoke-filled building and searched the unit on their hands and knees while yelling loudly to look for anyone inside.
“Every part of my body was screaming at me to not go in any further. I wanted to go in but by body would not react, it was just oppressive heat that you could feel all over your body,” he explained.
Senior Constable Jessup then used a nearby garden hose to help contain the fire, until firefighters arrived and subsequently extinguished the fire.
A Queensland Police Service spokesperson said “thanks to the immediate and brave actions of Senior Constable Jessup and his colleagues, the fire was contained to only one unit within the complex, without any injuries.”
At the awards ceremony, Senior Constable Jessup said he was humbled to receive the medal.
“I’d like to acknowledge and share this with my Far Northern colleagues who I worked with at the time of this incident,”
“I’ll always appreciate the tremendous cohesiveness and capabilities of the people I’ve had the privilege to work alongside,
“Responding to jobs like the Earlville fire relies on seamless teamwork so I thank everyone who was part of the response.” he said.