Caption: NSW RFS New England Zone Manager Superintendent Steve Mepham, third from left, presents The Armidale School Headmaster Murray Guest with an NSW RFS Supportive Employer Special Commendation award. The award recognises the school’s support for staff RFS volunteers including Steve Bishop, Bevan Michel, Ralph Hunt and Pat Bradley, and the decades of fire-fighter training given to students including, front, Max Laurie and Joel Blackwell.
WHEN the state’s first schoolboy bushfire brigade was set up in 1970 with donated equipment, it was so unique it attracted national media interest. Today, that same commitment to rural fire-fighting and youth training was recognised when NSW RFS New England Zone Manager Superintendent Steve Mepham presented The Armidale School (TAS) with an inaugural NSW Rural Fire Service Supportive Employer Special Commendation award.
The award, one of only 12 in the state, was announced last month by Minister for Police and Emergency Services Michael Gallacher and NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers.
Four TAS staff members are given the flexibility to attend incidents with their RFS brigades during work hours, including, in the past, major bushfires in Canberra and Victoria. The school also continues to assist in training around 20 students each year through a youth development program partnered with the New England RFS zone.
TAS business manager Pat Bradley is an RFS group captain and instructor who last year was granted leave to represent the NSW RFS in Botswana, delivering world class training to locals in wildfire management.
Colleague Bevan Michel is also a zone group captain; Steve Bishop is deputy captain of Dumaresq brigade, and Ralph Hunt, in charge of student training, is a former deputy captain and president of Dumaresq brigade.
Mr Hunt said each year about 20 Year 11 boys a year achieve their bushfire qualifications, joining with either a home brigade or the Dumaresq RFS brigade for practical instruction.
Training occurs over one or two days per term and then a full week in term 4, and includes the anatomy of a fire, the role of hazard reduction, use and maintenance of equipment, risk assessment, and communication. They also complete a recognised chainsaw course delivered through TAFE.
“This is not a junior cadet brigade but one in which the boys attain real fire-fighting qualifications. Once qualified they conduct several hazard reduction burns and attend real RFS situations as part of the program,” Mr Hunt said.
“Three years ago we were deployed to relieve local brigades fighting fires in the Torrington and Emmaville area, have attended truck fires on Devil’s Pinch, and assisted with other fires where they have helped save livestock and property,” he said.
Mr Hunt said many of the school’s boarding students involved in the program became members of their local brigades.
“They develop a sense of community and teamwork in an area where their academic or sporting prowess doesn’t matter. It gives them a sense of really valuable skills that makes them much more capable citizens, even if they don’t continue with the RFS,” he said.
TAS Headmaster Murray Guest said the school was proud to be given the award under the inaugural RFS Supportive Employer Program.
“As a member of the regional community and with many boys from rural areas, we are proud to be able to support the Rural Fire Service, both by supporting staff who volunteer their time and expertise, and with a program that provide real and meaningful training that helps the boys to be better citizens,” he said.
