Recollections of a CFS Volunteer

Hi, my name is Alan (Barra) Mundy and I am a firefighter at Cherry Gardens.

In Late October last year, we received a call from the RFS for volunteers to deploy to NSW. I volunteered as a truck driver. And so, began my first of 3, five-day deployments.

In my first deployment we flew out of Adelaide to Armidale. We then transferred to the Base camp at Glen Innes.
We were briefed and shown to our accommodation in one of many 12 person tents. The next day started with another briefing and vehicle allocation. I was put in a 3-person small NSW RFS tanker. Our task was to drive in a convoy to the Drake Long Gully fire and secure the fire edge. This was a 3 ½ hour drive through some heavily fire ravaged areas. We spent 5 hours blacking out hot spots then a return drive back to Glen Innes. The next two days were more of the same. By this time, we were able to make this fire ‘SAFE’. The final day was travelling back home. So ended my first deployment.

My next deployment was to Armidale, in the evening we were briefed on the next day’s activities. We were to drive to a local fire and do more blacking out etc. Then, much to our surprise 10 minutes later we were told there would be ‘a change of plans’, tomorrow you will drive the SACFS trucks to Texas Queensland which was about 450 kms away to work on a new fire at Yetman. This fire was started by lightning and was in a National Park.

Next day we drove to the Yetman fire. I was driving a bulk water carrier this time with a crew of 2. At Yetman we were met by a couple of NSW national parks firefighters who briefed us. They would monitor the fire overnight and tomorrow we would commence back burning operations to contain the fire. We then drove through a large dust storm to our accommodation at Goondiwindi. For the next 2 days we were involved in lighting a number of back burns and blacking out to make this fire contained and then ‘SAFE’. Again, the final day was travelling back home.

On my third deployment I was sent to Kempsey. Again, I was assigned to a small NSW RFS Tanker. This time we were tasked to help the National Parks crews to do a back burn in a remote rainforest area inland from Kempsey. This involved a fair bit of 4-wheel driving on narrow, slippery and hilly tracks. We were back burning on a track where a large fire was expected to impact the area in a couple of days time. We were protecting an area of the forest where there were some rare and endangered species of trees and shrubs. Unfortunately, we were only able to back burn a small length of the road due to high humidity and unexpected thunder storms. Over the next couple of days, it was more of the same and we were a bit disappointed that we could not fulfil our task completely.

So, after 3 days of working in a beautiful environment we headed back home to Adelaide.

To conclude, over the past couple of months I have been deployed 15 days to NSW, 3 days at the Cudlee Creek fire, 2-night shifts in Port Lincoln and 5 days on Kangaroo Island. Not to mention a couple of local fires in Clarendon and Scott creek.

I’m lucky to have the support of my family, a wonderful Brigade and being retired.

Alan