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QFES workers awarded for courage under fire, flood, COVID and crocs

Community News
29 January 2021 5 min read

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) volunteers and staff, who battled everything from crocodiles, fires and floods and sought creative solutions to working amid a global pandemic in 2020, are among a swag of Queenslanders awarded for their bravery.

QFES 2021 Australia Day Awards

The nominees insist it’s all in a day’s work caring for Queensland.

Humbled by their nominations, these volunteers and staff have been recognised as the latest deserving recipients in the 2021 Australia Day Achievement Awards, sponsored by QSuper.

QSuper CEO Michael Pennisi said it was fitting that Queensland’s largest super fund had been a proud sponsor of the QFES Australia Day Achievement Awards for the past 13 years.

“2020 was a year like no other and for these courageous and dedicated fire and emergency service workers to achieve and excel against the backdrop of a global pandemic is nothing short of incredible,” Mr Pennisi said.

QFES staff and volunteers were among those honoured in a series of official ceremonies around the state.

Fighting floods

Burdekin Unit – Rita Island Group State Emergency Services (SES) volunteer Alwyn Lane worked relentlessly as a boat skipper during the January 2020 Burdekin River floods.

Mr Lane, from Ayr, was nominated for his “skill and humanitarian support as a flood boat operator by providing essential goods to the Rita Island community during the flooding of the Burdekin River”, which occurred in late January 2020.

It’s all fun and games when the water is up to your waist and there’s a dead bull shark lying next to you,” Mr Lane said.

“I’ve lived here nearly 40 years and I’ve been helping people all my life.”

Circumnavigating COVID

Volunteer Emergency Services Training Command (VESTC) curriculum support officer Stacey Edwards implemented a suite of online training videos during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms Edwards was nominated for “the development and design of the QFES online video hub – an innovative and flexible training delivery alternative for staff and volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic”.

“It proves to me that I am on the right path. My goal is to provide support to our frontline workers,” Ms Edwards said.

“If I can help them in a small way this is my way of saying thank you to them.”

Challenging crocodiles

Fire and Rescue Service station officer Clint L’Estrange designed and developed a crocodile awareness program for those performing swift water rescues.

The Cairns firefighter was nominated for “designing, planning and implementing the Crocodile Awareness Program, enhancing the safety of QFES personnel within the Far Northern Region”.

Crocodiles were a hazard in the back of people’s minds but not in the forefront,” Mr L’Estrange said.

“People were becoming very task focussed and that’s the nature of what we do, but crocodiles weren’t one of the additional risks that people were thinking about.”

Battling blazes

Bundaberg Fire and Rescue Service senior firefighter Andrew Smith worked on controlling and containing the city’s Spotted Dog Tavern/Federal Backpacker’s Hostel inferno last July.

Mr Smith was nominated for his “initial actions and incident management” of the 20 July 2020 blaze, which tore through the 130-year-old hostel building and adjacent tavern.

“On the job you’ve got things to do and you are pretty flat out. You don’t have time for things to sink in,” Mr Smith said.

“When I received my award nomination I was flabbergasted. I was just doing my job.”

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