Nearly 100 volunteers and staff from the South Australian State Emergency Service (SES), SA Country Fire Service (CFS) and Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) have returned home after providing crisis support to communities right across the country.
Extreme weather events interstate – including devastating flash flooding in North Queensland, Cyclone Zelia in Western Australia and bushfires in Victoria and Tasmania – have prompted South Australian personnel to answer the call to help.
Groups deployed over the past month are now all safely back home, with the latest – an 11-member SES deployment to WA and a CFS volunteer who travelled to Tasmania – returning to Adelaide at the weekend.
Three deployments were sent to flood-ravaged Queensland, assisting with emergency response and recovery efforts in Townsville, Ingham and other parts of the state.
These five-day rotations comprised around 70 frontline personnel from the SES (47 members), CFS (10 members) and MFS (10 members), reinforcing South Australia's commitment across our emergency services to support interstate agencies.
Images of the QLD deployments, and Metro South SES Unit volunteer Nikki Burns, are available here.
SES crews also helped with Victorian staging areas for significant fires in and around Horsham and Halls Gap, supported by CFS brigades in the state's South East and Department for Environment and Water (DEW) specialist firefighters.
The deployments display the state's ability to quickly respond to requests and work with other agencies – coordinating with the National Resource Sharing Centre – while ensuring local resources can respond to local needs.
It follows the incredible efforts of CFS volunteers to contain the Wilmington fire, in the Flinders Ranges, which burned around 5,400 hectares in steep, hard-to-reach areas amid hot and dry conditions.
Local brigades have been supported by CFS volunteers from across the state, along with more than 40 SES members who were deployed over a two-week period to assist crews on the ground and support and protect the Wilmington community.
As put by Emily Bourke
Our frontline personnel have stepped up to help communities in need across the length and breadth of Australia.
Selfless volunteers paused their own lives and travelled thousands of kilometres to support areas devastated by fire, flood and extreme weather.
Their efforts across the border, and the families who backed them in, deserve to be recognised and thanked.
As stated by Metro South SES Unit volunteer Nikki Burns – deployed to Ingham, North Queensland
I have volunteered with the SES for seven years and this was my first deployment. To see the level of destruction firsthand was quite confronting.
Communities come together and support each other when disaster strikes, but because the entire community was impacted, they didn't have the capacity to help each other, so they were extremely appreciative of our assistance.
It made me realise how important the training we undertake as volunteers every week is so essential to what we do.
As stated by SES Chief Officer Chris Beattie
I am incredibly proud of our highly trained and committed SASES volunteers who put their hands up to answer the call for help, leaving behind their families, work and commitments to provide support for fellow Australians in crisis.
I personally thank all SASES personnel who deployed for their commitment and dedication and also the efforts of those who have stepped up to maintain our day-to-day operations at home during this busy period.
As stated by CFS Chief Officer Brett Loughlin
South Australian CFS volunteers should be incredibly proud of their dedicated service, providing crucial assistance to communities in need in both Tasmania and Queensland.
I offer my sincere gratitude to all South Australian emergency services personnel and their families.
As stated by MFS Chief Officer Jeff Swann
I'd like to acknowledge the incredible efforts of our MFS staff who volunteered to assist our interstate colleagues at a time they and their community were in need. Their dedication, compassion and selflessness should be commended.
The MFS has a strong community focus, and an unwavering commitment to assist those in need. It is a privilege that South Australia's emergency services can unite to help other states in their time of need.
