By GARY FRY
Caption: Australian Fire Service Medal recipient Elizabeth (Liz) Mary Ferris. Picture: DANIELI STUDIOS
AUSTRALIAN Fire Service Medal recipient, the Armidale area’s Elizabeth (Liz) Mary Ferris said that she was not in the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) for awards, yet she was beaming under the spotlight of formal commendation.
“It came totally out of the blue!” she said. “It does mean a lot to me, as it shows how the work that volunteer firefighters do for the community is appreciated.”
Mrs Ferris joined the RFS in 1990 and has been involved as an active member and frontline fire-fighter, brigade administrator, training instructor and senior field officer.
She has been an extremely active fire-fighter, involved in the majority of significant bushfire campaigns that have affected the New England and adjoining districts over the past two decades.
A regular out-of-area campaigner, Mrs Ferris served as an interstate Strike Team Leader as part of the RFS deployment to the 2009 Black Saturday Fires in Victoria.
Mrs Ferris’ passion and natural leadership qualities have seen her progress through the field officer ranks. She was the first female Captain in the area and is now serving as a New England Zone Group Officer, which commands a number of brigades.
Mrs Ferris said she was proud to serve as a role model for young brigade members, particularly women. Her colleagues feel that Liz Ferris exemplifies the values of the RFS.
Mrs Ferris has been an active participant and promoter of community engagement initiatives at both the local and State levels.
As part of the RFS International Relations Project, she participated in the international deployment to Botswana, passing on her RFS expertise. In 2011, she was a RFS representative at the International Wildfire Conference in South Africa.
Mrs Ferris said that her action-packed volunteering experience has been rewarding.
“To be able to give back to the community is a great thing. I have gained much from volunteering with the Fire Service. In addition to the physical skills, it has helped me a lot with leadership and communication skills,” she said.
