"Wrapping around the town": Young North Shore volunteers on fighting the Victorian bushfires

As parts of Victoria were burning last weekend, thousands of Country Fire Authority and Fire and Rescue Victoria firefighters worked around the clock to keep people and property safe. 

When backup was needed, North Shore volunteer brigades were among those who answered the call, travelling to the Victorian countryside to help in any way they could.

Two of those volunteers were James Barney, 21, and Connor Murphy, 20, from Ku-ring-gai RFS. 

🚒 On the road again: Since joining the service about a year ago the pair has been deployed in Dubbo and Port Macquarie, and last weekend they were needed in Victoria.

“It was very shocking for us, being our first major fire. The fires we have fought have been bad, but not as bad as it coming directly at you,” Murphy told the Lorikeet.

Four Ku-ring-gai volunteers went to Victoria late last week to assist vulnerable towns and properties. Barney and Murphy were sent to Yarck, a small town in the upper Goulburn Valley. 

While defending properties in the area, the crew was surrounded by fires “basically wrapping around the town”, Murphy said.

🔥 Keeping flames at bay: In order to protect residents, homes and livestock, their priority was putting out spot fires and embers that had reached residential properties, and keeping buildings cool to prevent internal fires. “Our plan was to let the fire go around the property”, Barney said.

“Even though it was quite hot, that was not the difficult part — it was the winds”. 

The two said that winds in the area — reported to have reached up to 100km/h — were strong enough to barrel them over. It was these winds that drove fires over the weekend, pushing flames south from the Longwood bushfire into towns like Yarck.

As night fell on Friday, the crew members were meant to be relieved by a night shift team, but fallen trees and burnt out roads cut off access to Yarck and left them to carry on alone. 

🛏️ A bed for the night: Volunteer firefighters trapped in the area slept wherever they could. A local bed and breakfast offered Murphy and Barney shelter for the night. Those less fortunate got horizontal on the floor of a local pub.

Having only recently joined the service, the Victorian bushfires were easily the worst Murphy and Barney had faced. Older firefighters the two were deployed with were able to put the fires in a broader context.

“From what our OIC (Officer in Charge) said, with 55 years in the RFS, it was the worst weather he has ever experienced,” Murphy said.