FARM firefighting units, families anxiously awaiting their relatives’ return and unsung heroes have been key personnel in the fight to bring Australia’s catastrophic bushfire crisis under control, a Country Fire Service volunteer believes.
Kalangadoo unit first lieutenant Frank Madzia was deployed to Victoria last year and in recent weeks has travelled to New South Wales and Kangaroo Island to combat the devastating bushfires.
According to recent reports, bushfires across Australia have burnt an estimated 10 million hectares of land since the start of 2019, with all states and territories impacted except the Australian Capital Territory.
More than 50 homes have been destroyed at Kangaroo Island alone and two lives lost, triggering a response from Limestone Coast volunteers who have joined a coordinated effort to bring the fire under control.
A lightning strike on December 30 is believed to be the cause behind the island’s Ravine fire, which has since intensified due to extreme fire danger conditions with the state expected to swelter again today as temperatures climb into the high 30s.
Among the Limestone Coast contingent to answer the state’s call for aid, Mr Madzia spent five days over the New Year period on the island, meeting people who he believes have not yet received the gratitude they deserve.
“Across Australia, credit has to be given to the emergency service volunteers, the parents baking cakes so we get snacks on the trucks, the machine operators who are knocking down the trees and even the farm units,” he said.
“You see some of the staff members who do not get much sleep because they are so busy.
“Thanks must also be given to the employers who allow their employees to leave the fire, if it was not for them many volunteers would miss out on the opportunity.”
With 30 years experience in the industry, Mr Madzia said he felt for the families who stay behind and wait.
“When my kids were young I was so happy to return and see them again,” he said.
“People say the people helping are heroes, spending time away from their family, but we are just doing it because we can.
“Personally for me, it was something to do and I had some free time over the New Year’s Eve period, so I thought I would make use of it and give back.”
A HELPING HAND
THREE more Country Fire Service strike teams departed the Limestone Coast Tuesday destined for Kangaroo Island, with more personnel scheduled to leave in the coming days.
Mr Madzia said he bumped into many new and familiar faces from the region while on deployment.
“I have never been deployed three times in one year, so it turned out when I went to Kangaroo Island I saw people I met in New South Wales and while in New South Wales I met people I saw in Victoria,” he said.
“You start working with your own brigade, but then as time goes by you start picking up people from other areas like Wandilo, Compton and Mount Schank.
“I was able to met people I would not normally see and work with them on the same strike team.”‘
UNPRECEDENTED TERRITORY
MR Madzia said the fires which were blazing across the country were different from anything he had seen before for a number of reasons.
“What is different about these fires is the fact there is so many of them and they are burning for such a long time,” he said.
“Some just seem to keep going, going and going.
“When we were over there, we finished a fire and thought we were done and then the next morning there was lightning strikes and another began.”
In his three decades of experience, Mr Madzia said he could not remember seeing as many fires burning at the same time as what is currently happening around the nation.
“All fires are bad in their own right, but this is the worst in the scale of things I have seen it before,” he said.
“I have been to Victoria to fight fires a few times now and in Tasmania for a few weeks and after a couple of months things usually settle down.
“These fires have been ongoing since around September.”
The biggest challenge Mr Madzia said volunteers faced was the accessibility to areas which were under threat.
“Sometimes you physically can not get to a fire, so you have to backburn and physically burn the stuff in front of it in a hope to stop the fire getting there,” he said.
HOPEFUL FUTURE
MR Madzia said he believed fire-affected areas would eventually rejuvenate.
“It is Australia, everything will come back … only time will tell,” he said.
“Hopefully it will rain in a couple of months and everything will come green again.
“You look at some of the larger fires like Ash Wednesday and the Wandilo fires and it is hard to find scars from them.”
