A Tribute - to our Bush Fire Fighters.

The bushfire tragedy in Victoria (and there are bushfires in NSW, and bad flooding in Queensland too, let's not forget) makes this a good time to reflect on ou Emergency Service volunteers.

In Victoria, its the CFA - the Country Fire Authority.
Here in NSW, we have our equivalent, the Rural Fire Service - the RFS (the world's largest fire service - which probably says all about how much they are needed). Another group is the SES - State Emergency Service, who do more varied work such as storm damage, floods, and other disasters. Most of these guys (and gals) are volunteers, they help their community for free, giving up their evenings for training and equipment maintenance, and their time when it's needed for actual disaster relief.

I was in a bushfire brigade when we lived in an outlying village, but not currently.

Times like Victoria is having now puts the affection the community feels for these volunteers into perspective. For example, at our local Australia Day festivities, the local RFS brigades and SES participate in the parade, get a warm round of appreciative applause, as it's a simple and heartfelt way to say Thanks.

Here are some piccies from Oz Day - 26 Jan;