By JESSE GRAHAM
AS FIRES raged across New South Wales last month, Badger Creek’s Murray Ellis was one of many firefighters around the Yarra Valley who rushed interstate to lend a helping hand.
Acting Works Manager at Healesville Sanctuary Murray Ellis was part of a strike team sent from Victoria to help fight bushfires in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales last month.
Mr Ellis, who is a third lieutenant with the Badger Creek CFA, drove up to Mount Victoria on Monday 21 October with firefighters from Yarra Glen, Dixon’s Creek and other areas as part of a composite strike team crew.
He returned from the trip the following Saturday, 26 October and said the interstate fire crews had a sense of camaraderie when it came to battling the blazes that spanned thousands of hectares.
“There were crews from South Australia and crews from Queensland – it was big, and it’s the way it should be, with the states coming together,” Mr Ellis said.
“You have the state rivalry, until you have to get in there and help out and everyone gets on.”
Mr Ellis worked with the strike team for three days on the fire ground, blacking out areas to stop the spread of more fire and providing relief for the New South Wales firefighters who were run off of their feet.
“We gave the other crews, that had been working for a long time, a few days of rest,” he said.
“Once you’ve been fighting for a fair amount of time, you can get run down.”
He said that the weather was on the side of the firefighters and didn’t get as bad as expected, which made the fires easier to contain.
“As far as I’m concerned, it went really well,” he said.
Mr Ellis encouraged anyone interested to put their hand up to volunteer with the CFA and said that, in the lead up to the fire season, Badger Creek CFA is recruiting new members.
For more information about becoming part of the Badger Creek CFA, call Murray Ellis on 0457 631 399.
