In his eight years in the Rural Fire Service, Tamworth City firefighter Darren Russell has missed four Christmases.
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He finally got one. A year ago, he was busy battling blazes from Tenterfield to Moonbi Hill and in the far south of the state. Not opening presents with his family.
"I didn't see much of the family over Christmas at all," he said.
"It was getting to that stage where we were getting tired. It was a progression that was in depth, quite long."
You spend more time sometimes with the volunteers than you do sometimes with your own family on a lot of these campaign fires.
- Darren Russell
"With the amount of fires that we had I would say there'd be a majority of our volunteer firefighters that weren't around for Christmas [in 2019]," Deputy Captain Russell said.
It was the second set of holidays in a row disrupted by local busfire activity. So It was good to get a year off this time around, he said.
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Aside from a handful of mostly local grassfires, aiding the SES, and a hazard reduction burn that got out of control outside Tamworth last month, it's been a quiet fire season.
The reprieve, brought on by prevailing La Nina weather, has given local firefighters a chance to recharge their batteries, the Deputy Captain said.
Kingswood firefighter Graham Brown has spent 34 years fighting bushfires.
The air operations manager spent last Christmas coordinating aerial firefighting at the Glen Innes Fire Control Centre.
He said the expectation volunteers will help out whenever there is a blaze can be a hard burden on families.
"I remember sitting down at Christmas dinner and I think I only got about a bite before the pager went off for serious fires so off we go," Mr Brown said.
"As Darren says it is hard on the wife and the kids especially around Christmas. But then a few years ago I started working for the RFS.
"In the end my daughters got to know that when I got a triple zero call - I can't talk to you now, you go and sit in that room. They get to know it."
Deputy Captain Russell said it can be "really hard for the kids to really understand what we do".
But the service is worth it, he said.
"I enjoy being with a volunteer organisation," he said.
"It's the bond you actually make with friends. It becomes your second family. A lot of people probably don't understand that, but it is. You spend more time sometimes with the volunteers than you do sometimes with your own family on a lot of these campaign fires."
Andrew Messenger
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
