Friday 18th January 2008 marks the 5th
anniversary of the 2003 ACT firestorm. For many
Rivers SES members, this is a marks a momentous
milestone. The fire storm engulfed the
middle-western suburbs of Canberra and destroyed
514 houses, also incinerated the vehicles of 4
Rivers ES members, whilst they were parked at
our home base, Rivers Shed which is located on
the Cotter Rd.
During the height of the fire storm, whilst the
Rivers ES team was deployed in another area of
the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), a
fireball bombed ‘the Shed’ and completely
incinerated the vehicles of 4 crew members;
Vicki Munslow, Ian Townley, Zenn Teoh and Nerida
Reilly. The vehicle of one other member,
Rebecca “Ruth” Pond narrowly avoided the same
fate, after her brother was able to remove her
car before the fire storm hit. At least a
couple of our members didn't even know if their
houses were left standing as a result of the
fire, until much later that evening.
For a variety of reasons that remain
personal to many Rivers SES (and bushfire
volunteers), the ACT fire storm was the
single, most significant event that affected
people in Rivers Unit (nee Brigade).
There was one bright spot in the middle of
this dark event, however. As a result of
the work and efforts of Rivers ES (and the
Rivers bushfiries) during the 2003 fires
(and a very nifty nomination prepared by our
Brigade Secretary, Mr Ian Taylor), we -
being the Rivers Volunteer Bushfire and Emergency Service Brigade, was awarded some
major national awards in the
National Australia Bank National Volunteer
Awards of 2003. The event was attended
by both the Rivers Bushfire Captain, Simon
Katz and the Rivers ES Commander, Vicki
Munslow on behalf of the Brigade.
In an unprecedented event, Rivers B&ES
Brigade was named the ACT Volunteer Group of
the Year, the ACT Emergency & Safety Winner,
the National Volunteer Group of the Year and
was also achieved the People’s Choice Award
National as well as achieving the ultimate
accolade of being named the National
Volunteer Group of the Year for 2003.
Vicki Munslow, who was then, and still
remains the Commander of Rivers SES, is
quoted as saying “It was a hell of a time
for all of us, but my crew stood steadfast
and unafraid, as the fire swept towards us
and also during the difficult times that we
had afterwards, when we were left trying to
provide support to a shattered community. My
crew carried on day after day, driving
themselves on regardless of their own
circumstances and they never faltered. I
have never been so proud of anybody as I was
then, particularly when I knew that for some
it came at such a terrible personal cost.”
