THE sun is hidden from view. It’s smoky, hot and terrifying – it feels like an out-of-control train is powering towards you.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Every time a NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteer firefighter puts on their helmet, overalls and boots they are walking into the face of danger to protect their local community.
For the past 30 years this is exactly what Superintendent Tom Shirt has done, but on Friday he hung up his helmet for good.
He may have wound up as team manager of the Chifley Zone (Bathurst, Lithgow and Oberon), but 30 years ago he was just another volunteer firefighter working to protect his community.
In 1985, as a 35-year-old husband and father of two young daughters, he joined the South Bowenfels Rural Fire Brigade in the Lithgow area.
The decision to join was due to a work colleague, the captain of the brigade, who had regaled Tom with tales of good times, camaraderie and helping the community.
Since then he has battled blazes in his local area and across the country, many of them singed into his memory
Over the years he has has some very close calls and experienced a number of overruns – one experience firefighters hope they will never have.
“It’s when the fire passes over the top of the truck,” he said.
Fires can quickly change direction in turbulent winds and crews can suddenly find themselves in the path of a raging, out-of-control bushfire.
“It’s pretty horrific ... the sound is quite terrifying, it’s really noisy. It’s like a train, a really deep roar,” he said.
“You can’t see a lot because usually there’s smoke and heat.
“It is a very, very risky business that we’re involved in.”
He vividly remembers fighting a huge blaze near Lithgow in 1997 that killed two brigade captains – Col Eather (Marrangaroo Brigade) and Ted Hughes (Wallerawang Brigade).
“In those [early] days there were less constraints on how we worked, but I can see why the changes have been made because in those days we did lose firefighters,” Supt Shirt said.
Those deaths lead to a visit from the then emergency services minister, who allocated $90,000 to construct a new state-of-the-art station at Marrangaroo.
Supt Shirt moved brigades to the new station and is a life member of that brigade.
He also fought the huge Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria on February 7, 2009 that he said “changed his views on a lot of things”.
Based in Kangaroo Ground, he and his colleagues were tasked to the Kinglake area, which had a huge fire front coming towards it. One hundred and twenty of the 173 people killed across the state that day came from the Kinglake area.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before ... it’s very difficult to describe,” he said. “I’ve never seen big trees turn to ash, and I’m talking about huge trees.
“The tar on the road melted away and aluminium road signs were just a puddle on the ground ... just a puddle of molten aluminium.”
Supt Shirt said the horrific scene made him realise a few home truths about himself, and life.
“We all think we’re a little bit bullet proof to a certain extent,” he said.
“It demonstrated to me that with a fire like that there’s nothing anybody can do, it’s just a matter of trying to keep everybody safe and out of harm’s way.”
In his 30 years in the service, Supt Shirt has seen many changes, with improved technology, safety equipment and communication methods.
“The biggest change has been the equipment that we’ve got now, modern up-to-date appliances [trucks],” he said.
“It certainly makes the volunteers’ job a lot easier. The government has invested a lot of money into having good communications. We need to make sure that our volunteers’ safety is the highest priority.”
There have also been a huge number of highlights, and camaraderie, that have kept him in the service for three decades.
“It’s the people. We’re a very diverse organisation, we’ve got people from all walks of life,” Supt Shirt said.
“We’ve got professionals and even our Prime Minister is a brigade member. You can be working alongside people from all walks of life, but for a common cause – that’s pretty special.”
Supt Shirt said in life post-RFS he was looking forward to spending more time with his wife Shirley and their two daughters, Katie and Lisa, and their families.
Also, following some renovations on his house, he and Shirley will hit the road to travel around Australia. While he might have officially retired from the RFS, he has already offered his assistance at major fires in the future.
“My intention is to go and work at the [Bathurst] airport with the infrastructure we’ve got up there now for filling fixed-wing bombers and helicopters with water,” he said.
“I’ll certainly miss the people, the volunteers. In our team we have 2300 in Lithgow, Bathurst and Oberon.
“I can’t completely walk away from it.”