Firefighters are a close-knit bunch. The very nature of their job means they need to find a way to wind down after what can be a traumatic day. Sandra McCormack meets four brave firefighters.

Craig Judd 30 // Forest Gardens // Leading aviation firefighter, Air Services Australia, Cairns AirportHurtling down a mountain on a bike might seem like a stressful situation to be in, but to 30-year-old Craig Judd it is actually a great way to wind down from his day job.Craig is one of a band of Air Services Australia firefighters based in the fire control centre at the Cairns Airport general aviation section. Aviation firefighters are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to fight fires in aircraft and in terminals and also to provide rescue and first aid services for passengers and crew.The team observes all aircraft arrivals and departures in close contact with air traffic controllers.  While thankfully Craig has not had to attend any life‑threatening fires, he says the aviation firefighters are always “turned out” should an aircraft declare
a problem. “That can be a pretty stressful situation regardless,” Craig says. “There’s a lot to concentrate on. You’ve got phones ringing, the radio’s going, aircraft are taxiing and there are other vehicles moving around out on the runway. Fortunately there has never been a major emergency and hopefully there never will be, but we still need to think that ‘this could be it’ and to be ready
for that.”Aviation firefighters also are on call to administer first aid to airport staff and passengers, hold fire drills and safety inspections and test and maintain fire vehicles and other equipment.Craig was born in Launceston and joined the Navy upon leaving school. He was initially based on board HMAS Labuan, a landing craft which was deployed to Bougainville in Papua New Guinea and East Timor in the height of the conflicts which engulfed those countries in 1999. The next year was spent in the Navy’s Cairns workshop, followed by a further three years on HMAS Brunei. Craig joined Air Services Australia in 2006.“I only thought about firefighting when I was well into my Navy career,” says Craig, father of Lachlan, 4, and Harry, 2. “Our family life is better because I am at home in Cairns. At least I am in the same city now, whereas I spent a lot of time away in the Navy and it was hard, especially when the kids were babies.”Craig’s wife Amanda works three days a week as a childcare director and because of Craig’s revolving roster (two 10-hour days followed by two 14-hour night shifts, followed by four days off) he can usually stay at home with Lachlan and Harry while Amanda works. When Craig has the opportunity he hops on his mountain bike and hits the dirt tracks, favouring the Smithfield Mountain Bike Park. He’s a member of the Cairns Mountain Bike Club and participates in local events across the Far North.“In the bush, when you’re on your own, you think a lot on the bike,” he says. “There’s no one else but yourself and it keeps you fit which helps your day job.”But it’s not all dust and downhill. Amanda also rides a bike and Craig attaches a kiddie cab to his bike so the whole family can participate. 

Shane Jarvis 37 // Edmonton // Queensland Fire & Rescue Service senior firefighter Baby daughter Camryn’s smile is the tonic firefighter Shane Jarvis needs after what can often be a traumatic day at work. “Coming home and seeing her smile is a great way to unwind,” Shane says.Shane and his fiancé Corinne welcomed their first child into the world in June and he says all the cliches about being a parent are true. “The love for Camryn is a love I have never experienced before,” Shane says.  He was born in Cairns and after graduating from Trinity Bay State High School he embarked on a refrigeration mechanic apprenticeship and later worked as a refrigeration sales engineer. During this time Shane joined the fire service as an auxiliary firefighter. He had originally thought about joining another emergency service but chose the fire service because “everyone likes firefighters” and the job involved a high level of community service. “You are not always dealing with the bad people like the police can,” he says.Shane was posted to the Tableland district, working at Atherton and Mareeba for five years and he transferred to the Cairns district as a senior firefighter this year.He says no one day is typical. Firefighters can be called to anything from fires, vehicle accidents, chemical spills and many false alarms. What awaits them at emergency callouts can range from the minor to the extreme. Shane recalls an accident near Malanda in 2007  in which a light truck had rolled on to its side, landing driver’s side down, trapping the driver by his legs.“It took us two hours to free him and I spent most of that time crammed inside the cab with him,” he says. “We spoke about a lot of things during that period – family, friends, where he lived, what he likes doing in his spare time, where he was from and constantly reassuring him we would get him out. He’s the only casualty I have ever visited in hospital, as I try not to get too attached.”While that accident had a happy ending, one of the fatal incidents he attended was a workplace accident near Atherton where a man was run over by
heavy machinery.“He was conscious throughout the rescue and was talking to us and I remember thinking: ‘How do I talk to him like this?’ He had injuries to his pelvis and legs and he told us his big toe really hurt. We got him on to the rescue chopper but he passed away in hospital. I went home and gave my partner a big hug and had a big sob. How do you get that out of your mind? You don’t.”Shane says very rarely does he come home and give his family too many details about what he has seen during the day, preferring the hugs instead. “At the end of the day you know what you have seen  and they (family) don’t need to know. They don’t need to get your picture in their head too.” QFRS provides training and confidential counselling by specially trained firefighters to deal with such incidents, but Shane says in the end it can stay with you forever.“That’s part of the reason the bond between firefighters is so great because we lean on each other when we need to talk about what we’ve had to do,” he says.Shane also uses cycling as an out-of-hours catch‑up with colleagues and for maintaining vital fitness levels. “We have to keep our fitness levels up because when the heat is on we can do eight hours worth of work in 20 minutes and we can do many of those (blocks of 20 minutes) a day,” he says. “Not only are we there to rescue and save people but we are looking out for our mates. My eyes are theirs and vice versa.” Shane has been trained in a QFRS program called Fight Fire Fascination, a free, confidential service in which a group of firefighters counsel and educate young children who exhibit fire play tendencies.

“It can be extremely traumatic to have a young child in the house who likes to play with fire,” Shane says. “Children can be fascinated with fire. It’s a natural element in the world that needs to be respected and if we can get into a house and stop a child playing with fire that will make a huge difference to that family.”

 Aaron Skarabot 34 // Mooroobool // Queensland Fire & Rescue Service first‑class firefighter The woman in Aaron Skarabot’s life is Angelina. She’s a shiny, airbrushed Harley-Davidson motorcycle the 34‑year-old firefighter rides to clear his mind of the images recorded during a bad day’s work.Motorcycles have always featured in Aaron’s life, from riding dirt bikes as a kid to participating in fundraising rides with fellow firefighters. When the stress of fighting fires and assisting at road accidents gets too much Aaron hits the road on his Harley-Davidson 2006 Softail Deuce and cruises the highways of Far North Queensland.Aaron was born in Cairns and after school he gained an apprenticeship as a sheet metal tradesman and worked in that field for 11 years. He joined the QFRS as an auxiliary in 1998 and as a full-time firefighter in 2004.“It’s a kid thing (joining the fire service),” Aaron explains. “Every little boy wants to be a firefighter,” His first posting was to Innisfail and he assisted with the massive clean-up in the wake of Cyclone Larry in 2006. Aaron now works in the Cairns area, rotating between Cairns, Smithfield and Cairns south (Edmonton) stations. He says his shifts are quite flexible and he often swaps shifts with his colleagues so he can spend as much time as possible with his three daughters Kaitlin-Anne, 12, Paige-Narissa, 10, and Bryden-Rose, 8, who live at Innisfail.No day is the same and Aaron says emergency service members are hesitant when they turn up to an incident, hoping they don’t know the victim. “Whenever you poke your head into the car you wonder whether you are going to know that person. There have been a couple of times when I’ve known the person and thank God they were not the fatal ones,” Aaron says.Aaron is passionate about road safety and is involved in the Roads Attitudes and Action Planning program where he speaks to Year 12 students. “We tell the kids if you take your mind off the job for one split second that can have dire consequences and we would rather not have to turn up to your crash.”One of the fire calls that stays in Aaron’s mind is the destruction of the abandoned Parkview Hostel in Cairns last year. “I was in an alleyway with breathing apparatus and hose line and all of a sudden something behind the wall beside me exploded,” Aaron says. “It was one of those freaky things I didn’t expect. You have to hold your ground and be confident in your training and confident in your colleagues.”Aaron says the friendship and counselling his colleagues provide is vital in being able to fulfil the job.

“You build great friendship with these guys and some become like brothers,” he says. “It’s (the station) our home away from home. We eat, laugh, sleep, breathe and bleed together.”

 Brett Weston 28 // Kewarra Beach // Queensland Fire & Rescue Service Rural Operations training and support officer Cruising down the road on his bike enables firefighter Brett Weston to leave the stress of the work day behind. The QFRS Rural Operations training and support officer took up cycling a few years ago to unwind. And while not exactly relaxing, Brett’s other choice for time out from his day job is fulfilling his role as a part-time patrolman in the Army Reserve. Chances were 28-year-old Brett Weston was always going to be a firefighter. His father Wayne Weston is a senior officer with QFRS and his grandfather was a country firefighter in Victoria. “As a kid all I ever saw was the firefighter uniform,” Brett laughs.Brett was born in Geelong and worked as a bicycle mechanic, salesman and as a fencing and landscaping subcontractor before joining the Royal Australian Air Force as a firefighter in 2000. He trained at Amberley Air Force Base and was posted to Townsville then back to Amberley where RAAF firefighters are on call to assist with airfield and structural fire and rescue services. One of the more stressful incidents Brett was involved in during his time with the RAAF was a Black Hawk helicopter crash in February 2004.All eight soldiers on board survived but Brett says that was miraculous considering the $25 million aircraft was destroyed in the crash. “It was a mangled mess and it was a miracle anyone survived,” he says. “We set out thinking there would be fatalities but to our amazement the worst injury was a fractured back. Usually with aircraft crashes nine times out of 10 it’s going to involve fatalities.” Brett’s job with Rural Operations involves training and supporting about 2500 volunteer firefighters in an area stretching from the Torres Strait south to Babinda and west to the Gulf. Although he is based in Cairns he is on call 24 hours a day to travel to rural fires or to provide support over the phone. He also lends a hand to the urban fire service as needed with fires, motor vehicle accidents and medical assists.After a hard day Brett relies on his partner Sharon, a midwife and former emergency nurse, to help get things off his chest. “Sharon’s seen a lot of trauma in her career so she understands the need to share what I’ve seen and I can do that for her too,” he says.

Brett and Sharon will soon have a good distraction with their first baby due in February.

 

Share this article