Melbourne Water firefighters honoured for their work across Black Summer

Eighty past and present Melbourne Water firefighters have been honoured with a National Emergency Medal for their heroic role in Victoria’s emergency response to the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020, in a ceremony at Mt Evelyn last week.  

The Black Summer bushfires were declared a nationally significant emergency on 2 December 2020, allowing Melbourne Water personnel to be nominated for a medal or, if they had already received one, a clasp.  

“My deeply felt congratulations and thanks go to our brave Melbourne Water firefighters for their work protecting the catchments and Melbourne’s water supply.  This also could not have been achieved without the support of our partner emergency management colleagues across our state,” said Melbourne Water Executive General Manager Service Delivery Sue Jackman, who presented the awards on behalf of Melbourne Water.  

"This acknowledgment from the people of Australia rightly memorialises your courage and contribution.”

In January 2020, following a series of lightning strikes, Melbourne Water firefighters observed plumes of smoke coming from the Thomson catchment. This marked the beginning of a nine-week multi-agency campaign by Melbourne Water, Forest Fire Management Victoria, and emergency management colleagues to contain the fires. 

Melbourne Water personnel deployed for seven days at a time, working for 12 hours each day. Notably at Camberville, they worked tirelessly to contain a dangerous blaze near the Upper Yarra water storage dam, and to protect the supply of drinking water to five million people.

With most of the significant fire activity occurring in Gippsland and Hume regions, Melbourne Water firefighters were also deployed throughout the state to Omeo, Swifts Creek, and Dargo.

Responding under the Forest Fire Management Victoria banner, Melbourne Water firefighters are a first-response strike force, responding to any threat from lightning strikes or nearby fires to the reservoirs and dams in our forested water supply catchments.  

Each fire season, the workforce roughly doubles as it takes on project firefighters stationed across the state from Healesville, Warburton, and Woori Yallock in the Yarra Ranges through to the Thomson Dam. 

Renelle Verkes joined Melbourne Water as a project firefighter ten years ago, having led her local Country Fire Authority brigade at Hoddles Creek as its first female captain. 

“Leading a task force on a hot night through a smouldering forest is not your usual day at the office,” said the Operations Officer, having received a clasp. 

Fires create silt, debris, ash, and charcoal on the ground, which can flow into water storage reservoirs throughout our catchments. Preventing this allows Melbourne to maintain the high-quality drinking water the city is renowned for.  

“That’s why our firefighters, committed to their duty, receive mentoring and rigorous, nationally recognised training - to do what they do,” said Ms Verkes.  

James Wolff joined as a project firefighter in 2011, became a crew leader, and now leads the training of recruits. “From operating bulldozers to clear fire breaks, to watching out for hazard trees and working through the night to extinguish the flames, it can be hot and difficult work,” he said.   

“I joined a crew in Gippsland at the end of 2019 as a crew leader, which means managing human and technical resources over a large area as we worked to suppress the fires,” said Wolff, who also received a clasp.  

“Prevention is better than cure, so we spend the rest of our time clearing roads and creating breaks to prevent the spread of fire and provide easy access for our crews.”  

Melbourne Water’s firefighters maintain 600 kilometres of fuel breaks and 1,900km of roads while performing ongoing maintenance on aqueducts and treatment plants.  

Congratulations to our brave and dedicated Melbourne Water firefighting crews, to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude, and – as they prepare for the upcoming fire season – we wish for their safety and their success.   

For more information on Melbourne Water’s water catchments and the role we play in protecting them from fire, visit: Water catchments | Melbourne Water

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