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Volunteer’s
hot initiation
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Aircraftwoman
Renee Smith and fellow volunteer firefighter Able Seaman
Mark Jagers. Photo by CPL Belina Mepham
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AIR
Force Reservist Aircraftwoman Renee Smith’s introduction to
volunteer bushfire fighting was a baptism of fire – literally.
ACW Smith, a member of RAAF Base Fairbairn’s No. 28 Squadron,
had been a volunteer with the Queanbeyan City Rural Fire Brigade
for just two months when she was called on to battle the biggest
blazes Canberra had ever seen.
She spent more than two weeks assisting the fire-fighting efforts
in and around the ACT, rarely seeing her family, friends and two
young daughters.
“They haven’t seen me much lately at all, so that’s
a bit rough” she said. “But one of my little girls always
says ‘mum’s off fighting the fires’, so she understands.”
At the height of the firestorm on January 18, ACW Smith and her
fellow Queanbeyan brigade volunteers were stationed at Williamsdale
and Michelago, to Canberra’s south.
When the inferno intensified, the group fought to successfully protect
rural properties in the area as the forest in front of them ignited.
She had no trouble getting time off to battle the fires. “I’m
also a Defence civilian, but my employer is really understanding,”
she said.
ACW Smith said the long hours and time away from the family was
made easier by the support given by the general public.
“People come up to you and say they appreciate the job you
are doing,” she said.
“It’s good that people acknowledge what we’re doing
because, even if you’re not out there, the time spent away
from your family and the waiting is very tiring.”
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