- Title: 'No news is good news' for families of Australia's volunteer firefighters
- Date: 24th December 2019
- Summary: WOLLONDILLY SHIRE, AUSTRALIA (RECENT - DECEMBER 21, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) RFS DEPUTY CAPTAIN PICTON FIRE BRIGADE, ANDREW HAIN SAYING: "I have a little emoji of a bald guy with a bit of facial growth giving a thumbs up, and so every hour or so I try and send that emoji to her and she knows that I'm OK. We get into some places and there's not a lot of reception and you know, we've got a sort of thing in place that no news is good news, if she doesn't hear from me. So, we've got plans around it to try and put her mind at ease." HAIN AND CREW NEAR FIRE TRUCK VARIOUS OF LOCAL RESIDENT SHANNON CZERNY (SECOND FROM LEFT) WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS AT FRONT FENCE OF HIS PROPERTY. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT SHANNON CZERNY SAYING: "They ask you if you're ready, they ask you if you've got everything prepared. They ask you if you need any help. Essentially, they're just there to talk to you. You know, if they need to be there to property protect or just keep the situation calm then, they're good at what they do." PICTON, AUSTRALIA (RECENT - DECEMBER 22, 2019) (REUTERS) HAIN'S SON, FOUR-YEAR-OLD FRASER RUNNING TO MEET HIM / HAIN HOLDING FRASER HAIN HOLDING FRASER HAIN'S PARTNER, KATE LOOKING AT HAIN AND SON (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANDREW HAIN'S PARTNER, KATE HAIN SAYING: "Mostly I try not to think about it when he's out. I'm too busy with the kids so I don't really think about what he's doing. And its only when someone says, 'oh that must be so scary and it must be so, like hard for you everyday, and I go well I don't really think about it. Because, if I think about it then I think about the worst case scenario'." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANDREW HAIN'S PARTNER, KATE HAIN SAYING: "I love the fact that its's going back to that traditional roots of a community feel of Andrew putting in the time to protect our community. Like you would have in the original villages of your life. You would have had people that did these certain jobs. But, the fact that they get nothing. We get no tax benefits. We don't get no discounted rates. We get nothing and they expect the amount of time and effort and danger they put themselves in, it's just expected. I find that just amazing, that nobody gives us anything." THE HAIN FAMILY WALKING THROUGH DOOR
- Embargoed: 7th January 2020 02:47
- Keywords: Australia New South Wales bushfire fires heat rural
- Location: WOLLONDILLY SHIRE, AUSTRALIA
- City: WOLLONDILLY SHIRE, AUSTRALIA
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wildfires/Forest Fires,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA003BBC2IX3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A crew of volunteers from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) drive at speed to try and save another property.
Australia has been fighting wildfires for months as hot, dry conditions brought about an early start to the fire season. This added to record temperatures over 41 degrees Celsius (105 Celsius) last week as an extreme heatwave swept across the country and a long-running drought in the country's east has created tinder-dry conditions.
For Andrew Hain, Deputy Captain at Picton Rural Fire Service, it's another day away from his family and his paying job, as he risks his life fighting fires for free. Hain, a father of two, is part of the world's largest volunteer fire brigade, that has more than 72,000 volunteers.
Australian communities rely on volunteer brigade's like Hain's to combat fires, an ever-pervasive threat amid rising temperatures around the country.
This summer fire season, however, is quickly turning into one of the worst on record, heaping pressure on volunteers and their families.
A flight route planner at airliner Qantas, Hain has given up much of his end-of-year holidays to fight the fires.
As fires encroached on his property, Hain planned early and sent his family away to Sydney, about 90 kilometres (55.9 miles) away.
"We tend to just plan early. I've got a two-year-old and a four-year-old and the last thing we want to do is to be rushing out of there, trying to pack a car and make sure we've got nappies and photo albums and critical documents and that sort of stuff. So, we tend to just go and go early. Which is the message we give to everyone," Hain said.
To let his wife Kate know he's safe, he abides by a general rule that "no news is good news".
"I have a little emoji of a bald guy with a bit of facial growth giving a thumbs up, and so every hour or so I try and send that emoji to her and she knows that I'm OK," Hain said just after fighting fires in the Wollondilly Shire, just south of Sydney.
"We get into some places and there's not a lot of reception and you know, we've got a sort of thing in place that no news if good news, if she doesn't hear from me. So, we've got plans around it to try and put her mind at ease," he added.
Two volunteer firefighters were killed last week when their truck was struck by a falling tree as it travelled to a fire front.
Bushfires have destroyed more than 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres) since they first erupted in spring in an early and ominous start to the fire season.
An enduring drought and record high temperatures have added to the intensity and sparked a debate over whether volunteers should be paid. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced up to four-week paid leave for volunteer firefighters who work as public servants on Tuesday (December 24) during his tour to fire-affected areas across the country.
Hain's wife, Kate Hain, said she is proud of him for contributing so strongly to the local community, but his contributions come at a cost.
"We get nothing and they expect the amount of time and effort and danger they put themselves in, it's just expected. I find that just amazing, that nobody gives us anything," said Kate.
(Production: Jill Gralow) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None