Army - The Soldiers' Newspaper

NSW Fire Brigade personnel and soldiers from 4RAR(Cdo) battle the fire as it rages through the transport yard at Tobruk Lines. Photo by Pte Ben Peardon, 4RAR(Cdo)

Units faced with huge clean-up

By Pte John Wellfare
With one of Sydney’s worst-ever bushfires raging towards them, soldiers at Holsworthy Barracks engaged in a desperate attempt to protect their lines and now face the monstrous task of cleaning up.

Located in south-western Sydney and surrounded by bushland, the barracks sat directly in the path of the deliberately-lit fire.

Soldiers noticed the first signs of the bushfire at about 3pm on December 4, a pall of smoke blossomed to the west of the barracks and was looming closer.

Soldiers from all units set about making hasty preparations and evacuating civilians from the area.

The fire hit with devastating force, fuelled by dense bushland and pushed along by strong winds, acknowledged by veteran Army fire fighter Maj Mark Willetts, as one of the worst ever.

“I’ve been a fire fighter for 25 years and it was very hot and very hard,” he said.

After the fire had passed and soldiers inspected the damage, many were surprised to find the majority of the buildings and equipment had survived almost unscathed.

Maj Willetts attributed this to the speedy response and steadfast courage of the soldiers.

“The only reason we saved so many buildings is because a lot of units didn’t evacuate.

Visited the morning after the fires by CDF Gen Peter Cosgrove and later that day by the Land Commander Maj-Gen Peter Abigail and Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Danna Vale, soldiers at Holsworthy Barracks received hearty praise for their efforts under what Mrs Vale described as apocalyptic conditions.

Gen Cosgrove said from the extent of the fire damage in Holsworthy,it must have been a highly dangerous few hours while the fire passed through the barracks.

“The damage to a few units was quite serious. I was particularly proud of the hard work by many soldiers to save the barracks and equipment,” he said.

“I was also pleased to see the way friends and the military rallied around the young couple who lost their married quarter.”

“Our soldiers reacted very quickly by staying by their units and fighting the fires with the limited resources they had,” he said.

Although no unit at Holsworthy Barracks survived unscathed, the fire did little to hinder the capacity of units throughout the area, according to Maj Northover.

“Despite the intensity of the blaze, high-readiness units in the area have not lost any capability.”

In the days that followed the fires, signallers from 145 Sig Sqn established communications posts throughout the barracks to substitute for damaged phone lines MPs assisted police and the RTA in blocking closed roads throughout the area while engineers from SME cleared burnt trees and telegraph poles from fences and buildings. Frontline staff donated food and bottled water to the soldiers involved in fighting the fire and dealing with the aftermath. The day after fires ripped through Holsworthy Barracks, the toll stood at 11 buildings damaged, 15 military vehicles, five military trailers and five civilian vehicles.

One married quarter in Wattle Grove was also destroyed, while soldiers fighting the blaze suffered only minor injuries.

By Pte John Wellfare
SOLDIERS from SME came together recently to help one of their own, whose Wattle Grove married quarter was destroyed in the bushfires.

Capt Tim St Quintin, OIC Combat Engineering Section at SME, was still at work when the fires struck, while his wife Sarah had 10 minutes notice to evacuate with the couple’s eight-month-old son William and the family pets.

Returning to the DHA property two days later, the family discovered that the house and most of their possessions had been destroyed in the blaze but for Capt St Quintin, help was not far away.

“Within a couple of hours of coming back to the house there was a truck and a group of people ready to help us,” he said. “It’s great to have this kind of support from everyone.”

The soldiers and officers from SME loaded all of the family’s damaged possessions into a truck for removal, taking less than an hour to accomplish what had appeared to the couple as a monstrous task to perform alone.

Mrs St Quintin, delighted at the number of soldiers coming to the aid of her and her husband, said the support was fantastic.

The St Quintins stayed in a motel for the days following the fire and remain positive despite their loss.
“We’ve lost a lot but it’s all replaceable. It’s just a big inconvenience.”

By Pte John Wellfare
THE bushfire presented signallers at 145 Sig Sqn with a serious dilemma, separated from the main body and surrounded by bushland, the decision to either stay and fight or withdraw, had to be made long before the fire arrived.

The signallers decided to stay, with winds gusting up to 54km/h pushing the fire towards them at a tremendous speed, they set about making preparations for a hasty defence.

With the fire rapidly approaching, the signallers began hosing down buildings and moving vehicles and stores to safe areas.

With about 30 people in the position, the soldiers established a perimeter and extinguished spot fires as they appeared.

Surrounded by fire and with flames creeping dangerously close to the POL point, signallers were forced to withdraw to the centre of the position, according to Sig Renato Villavicencio.

“When the POL point was about to go up, that’s when we were told to get out,” he said.

Despite the desperate nature of the battle, only a few buildings in the unit suffered major damage, which the signallers attribute to the dedication and teamwork of everybody in the unit.

By Pte John Wellfare
This minute-by-minute account of the situation and the actions carried out by the soldiers of 4RAR(Cdo) and 126 Sig Sqn reads like a defensive operation against a massive enemy assault.

Situated on the western perimeter of Holsworthy Barracks and facing dense bushland, 4RAR(Cdo)’s Tobruk Lines sat perilously in the path of the fast-moving bushfire.

Ops Officer 4RAR(Cdo) Maj Richard Moore coordinated the fire fighting effort from the Battalion Ops room.

3:20pm – Fire spotted from operations room.
Fire Brigade advised.
Driver sent out with radio to investigate.
Driver reports Luscombe Airfield is on fire.

3:47pm – Fire comes from west, all companies told to gather fire fighting equipment.
Fire fighting equipment centralised in guardroom.
Vehicles and stores moved to centre of parade ground.

4:10pm – Concentrate on local defence, hosing down buildings and surrounding vegetation.

4:11pm – Fire jumps road and enters 4RAR(Cdo) grounds, burning from main Q-store to officer’s mess.
Fire fighting teams formed and sent to main Q-store, transport yard, guardroom and officer’s mess.

4:21pm – Fire jumps fence into Q-store, hits fuel depot.
Fire fighting teams at Q-store withdraw.

4:35pm – Fire fighting teams withdraw from transport yard.
Continuing to fight fire at guardroom and officer’s mess.

4:45pm – Fire fighting teams move back into Q-store and transport yard.
Teams deployed throughout battalion area to locate and extinguish spot fires.