Very lucky to be part of the team

"I’m pretty lucky to be part of the Corryong crew.

I did 26 years in the army, and I liken them to some of the teams I’ve worked with in the army overseas.

They are highly reliable, very enthusiastic and very keen to do the best they can for their township and surrounding area.

Like quite a few staff within the Forest Fire Regions Group, this is a secondary role for me. I am the only person from the “regional directorate” side of the region in the Corryong crew. The rest are from Forest Fire Operations, including a handful of brand new PFFs.

This all started for the Corryong crew near the Murray River. We could see the build-up of the Jingellic fire and were eventually sent to Walwa in preparation for the fire to jump the Murray River.

The smoke column was incredible, and it seemed to be growing by the second.

We got to Walwa (I think early afternoon) and our crew leader quickly realised we needed to be further past Jingellic to meet the fire because it was clearly going to jump the river.

We spread out on the River Road to tackle spots as they came across. It soon became clear that we would go into asset protection, so we were organised near a number of houses to assess whether we could defend them or not.

Shortly after this, the red flag warning came down and we could see the Rural Fire Service (RFS) quickly driving from the wall of fire (we later found out this is where a firefighter, Sam, lost his life).

The fire jumped the river and before I knew it was overtaking our left flank. It ran more than a kilometre through short grass in seconds, with flame height more than 10 feet.

We tried to get out of a driveway and I ended up with a rather large CFA member sitting on my lap in the G-Wagon as we left. We realised that the firestorm had simply ripped through us and now it was time to save as many houses as possible.

This is where real leadership picked up the team and set them to task with quick and achievable taskings that allowed us to save many farms, cattle and fields from destruction.

At the same time our crew leader coordinated CFA crews and directed the evacuation helicopter for the RFS members in NSW. This went on until about midnight before we realised we could do no more that night.

Some of our crew then went to fight for their houses as the fire screamed towards Cudgewa and Corryong. I later found out that some of the team saved their houses but not much more.

Soon I was woken by the hotel manager in Corryong, as he and a fairly large group of residents had gathered and were very concerned about the fire.

I quickly saw that the fire was halfway across Mittamatite and the glow was in the flats on the south side of town. We drove out to see where the fire was, contacted the Incident Control Centre and woke the Divisional Commander, who was in the room across from me. We realised that we had to get the crew back in ASAP otherwise it would be too late for many residents in Corryong.

We soon got everyone back for a day that was even more hectic than the day before as we fought from house to house to save them.

I don’t think there was much of Corryong and surrounding farms within 20km of town that the Corryong Crew did not touch.

Once again, incredibly cool and collected leadership ensured the crew was safe and maximising their efforts. We lost only two houses. Although some of us had no sleep, and the rest had three or four hours at best, we did our duty, and that should make us all proud.

I think we then had a day off before we spent a few long days working to secure Mittamatite and save a lot of grasslands and some properties. Power and communications were down, we needed to formulate strong plans with the CFA on where we could do the best work.

Then came Saturday and the battle for Towong. This was another long day for the crews, with properties belonging to crew members under threat, so we were short of staff from the start.

We were deployed down to Towong early enough to make a difference. The fire roared over Mittamatite towards Towong, so we went back into asset protection. The crew did an incredible job for hour after hour and saved an untold number of houses, but we also lost some along the way. You could see the heartache this caused staff every time it happened.

It was 45C, with incredible winds that drove the fire over all our preparation work. Even under such extreme circumstances, the crew cracked on and did what they had to do while looking after each other and the general public.

At one stage, we were alone defending the town and our staff stepped up to much higher tasks to get the job done. For example, a PFF directed a long-line bomber to save houses on the Towong ridge.

Halfway through the event our crew leader decided to commence parallel attack, which slowed the flanks from taking numerous parcels of land and properties. We finished by cutting a line around a large area of burning scrub and burnt it out, which I am sure saved a huge amount of land and several farms.

A few days later the winds changed direction again and we found ourselves rushing back down to the Murray flats near Walwa. Another long day followed. commencing in asset protection when we drove into the flank of the fire that was ripping through farms and dairies. This quickly turned to trying to save as much stock and feed as we could until near daybreak.

Within nine days, the crew confronted three very large fire storms, saved many houses, cattle (and feed) and possibly lives. I still find it difficult to comprehend the amount of work the crew did and how they held themselves throughout all three events.

I am sure I have not done this story justice nor have I described the incredible leadership that I observed by local on-ground members, nor do I feel I can put into words how incredibly proud I am to be part of this team.

But I can honestly say there are many people in and around Corryong and Towong that should be very thankful for having the Corryong crew here to defend their properties, livelihoods and lives."