Forged in flames

Last summer’s bushfire season broke Shane Fitzsimmons’ heart. And then broke it again, and again. The fires started early – ridiculously early, in July – but the first truly devastating news came in October, when four separate blazes tore through far northern NSW, fuelled by drought and dry lightning. Then, in the tiny rural outpost of Coongbar, two people lost their lives.

When news of the casualties broke at NSW Rural Fire Service headquarters, the Commissioner got in his car and drove the 680 kilometres to Casino to be with local volunteers.

“Gwenda Hyde and Robert Lindsey weren’t just names on a fatality list,” Shane says, with that characteristic mix of steadiness and empathy. “They were known to the local RFS members, they were known in the community. And it doesn’t get harder than when our colleagues and friends and neighbours lose their lives.”

It was a brutal summer. The casualties didn’t stop. Seven people lost their lives in the NSW fires in November, another five in December and 11 in January – many of them RFS volunteers. On December 19, Geoffrey Keaton and Andrew O’Dwyer were killed when their vehicle was hit by a falling tree in south-west Sydney. On December 30, Samuel McPaul lost his life when his truck flipped in what was described as a fire tornado near Albury. And three American firefighters were killed when their air tanker crashed in the Snowy Monaro area in January.

“There were periods during the season that were truly heartbreaking and I mean that in its absolute definition,” Shane says. “My heart was broken and it hurt – it still hurts.”

Yet he persisted. Day after day, month after month, there he was on the nightly news: at the control centre; on the fire front; briefing the Premier; reaching out