Six Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) personnel have been honoured with the prestigious Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) and Emergency Services Medal (ESM).
Six Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) personnel were named in the Australia Day Honours List and awarded the prestigious Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) and Emergency Services Medal (ESM).
The Queensland recipients of this national honour demonstrated an outstanding level of commitment to both QFES and the community.
Simon Ball, David Heck, Paul Mardon, Assistant Commissioner Gary McCormack, Colin "Curl" Santacatarina and Mark Dole were honoured.
Each has served the fire or emergency services for more than a decade and, in some cases, more than 40 years, exhibiting the true extent of loyalty and dedication that exists at QFES.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Fire & Disaster Recovery Nikki Boyd:
"The recipients join an outstanding group of Queenslanders who exemplify the Australian spirit through selfless devotion, tireless dedication, and unwavering service to their community.
"The community relies on emergency services to be there when they need them most, and the Australia Day Honours List is a great opportunity to recognise the exceptional efforts of extraordinary individuals.
"These six individuals embody the QFES values of respect, integrity, courage, loyalty and trust, and I hope their friends and family enjoy what is sure to be a very special Australia Day."
Quotes attributable to QFES Acting Commissioner Steve Smith:
"The six members of QFES being honoured today have almost two centuries of combined experience, and I'd like to congratulate them for their outstanding contribution to the emergency services in Queensland.
"Our staff and volunteers work day-in, day-out without any expectation of reward or accolades, and their service has contributed greatly to creating a safer and more resilient Queensland.
"QSuper award ceremonies have been postponed while our dedicated staff respond to the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Kirrily. We look forward to celebrating their achievements as soon as possible."
This year's recipients are:
Mr Simon Ball
Mr Simon Ball commenced his firefighter career in 1982 at Hampshire Fire Brigade, United Kingdom, and in 1988 he moved to Australia and joined the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) as an auxiliary firefighter at Caboolture. In 1990, he commenced as an urban firefighter and has continued his dedicated service to firefighting in Brisbane.
Mr Ball has been on eleven significant deployments both intra and interstate, as recently as 2022. He has been appointed as QFES liaison officer, incident controller, senior officer, commander, deputy state commander, and team leader due to his solid reputation and utilising his varied depth of operational experience and knowledge. His commitment to highly professional standards, continuous improvement and operational excellence has been an attribute that he has demonstrated throughout his exemplary career and is an asset to both QFES and the Queensland community.
Mr David Heck
Mr David Heck commenced service as a volunteer rural firefighter with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) in September 1993. He has continued his service in a range of frontline roles in various rural fire brigades for over 29 years and is currently a rural fire support officer in southeast Queensland, a volunteer rural firefighter and first officer of the Chambers Flat Rural Fire Brigade and fire warden for various districts.
As a volunteer he has demonstrated exemplary service to both local communities and interstate. He is recognised as having outstanding operational capability around command and control during frontline service and is a highly respected leader.
Mr Paul Mardon
Mr Paul Mardon began his career with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services as an auxiliary firefighter at Cooran Station in 2006. He was quickly identified as a dedicated firefighter with key leadership abilities. While continuing his frontline service as an auxiliary captain, Mr Mardon has been a pinnacle leader in training auxiliary firefighters and enhancing the operational capability across the North Coast region of Queensland.
His focus was initially on general firefighting skills, but he soon became an expert in HAZMAT and road crash rescue, becoming an instructor in both fields. Mr Mardon's outstanding dedication to firefighter training, his exemplary leadership and his highly skilled frontline service has made a significant impact towards keeping the Cooran, Pomona, and wider Queensland community safe.
Assistant Commissioner Gary McCormack
Assistant Commissioner Gary McCormack joined Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) in the fire and rescue service stream as a firefighter in 1995 and was promoted to station officer in 2005. He has held a range of roles in the rural fire service stream of the organisation since being appointed area director, Rural Operations in 2008 including manager, Bushfire Safety from 2012; regional manager, Rural Operations from 2014; director, Rural Operations from 2015 and has acted in the role of assistant commissioner, Rural Fire Service for multiple periods from 2017.
Assistant Commissioner McCormack's contribution to operational capability and community resilience is exemplified by his key leadership roles in numerous significant emergency events. These include commander of State Operations during significant parts of the Queensland bushfire season in 2018; commander, North Coast Regional Operations during the major 2019 Peregian bushfire, the 2020 K'gari bushfire and during multiple floods in 2022.
He has served with distinction throughout his career, making a valuable contribution to QFES through his inspirational leadership and dedication and is commended for always prioritising the safety of the Queensland community.
Mr Colin 'Curl' Santacaterina
Mr Colin Santacaterina commenced service with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) as a volunteer rural firefighter in February 1980. Since that time, he has served in a range of frontline roles including at Childers Fire and Rescue Station where he held the position of auxiliary captain for close to 20 years. He is currently continuing his service as a volunteer rural firefighter at the Childers Rural Fire Brigade.
He is an outstanding community leader who gives countless hours to attend brigade activities, with roles including vehicle and building maintenance, hazard reduction activities, training, and countless fires. He is often the first to be there to assist and his level of commitment is outstanding. He is highly respected for his knowledge, professionalism, experience, and leadership skills.
Mr Santacaterina has made a significant contribution to the safety and wellbeing of the community of Childers throughout his 41-year career. He continues to provide exemplary, dedicated service to QFES and the Queensland community.
Mr Mark Dole
Mr Mark Dole commenced his career with the Tasmania State Emergency Service (SES) in 1999 and has demonstrated distinguished service to emergency services through his long career spanning over two decades and across three states: Tasmania, Victoria, and Queensland.
Managing the COVID-19 response, Mr Dole actively coordinated and supported the airport operations and also deployed volunteers and staff to the border operations with NSW. The Brisbane SES Region was at the forefront of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services' response with the Brisbane regions SES volunteers and staff. Under Mr Dole's leadership, the COVID-19 response was a significant success over a sustained and difficult period of more than 200 days.
Mr Dole has consistently demonstrated leadership in the management, strategic and operational direction of the SES and its contribution towards helping the community to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the impact of emergency events.
