The Green Wattle Creek fire that destroyed more than 250,000 hectares near Taralga over summer had the town on tenterhooks for months.
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The community rallied around its RFS while the firefighters themselves worked day and night fighting the blaze around Wombeyan Caves.
On Tuesday, July 7, its 22 brigade members were honoured for their work with special certificates and patches at the AGM.
The patches were the idea of Taralga RFS Captain John Sullivan who wanted to do something a bit special to recognise the enormity of both the fire and the efforts of those who battled it.
"The fire took up such a lot of people's lives from the beginning of December right through until the middle of February," he said.
"My brigade members put so much time into the fire, both fighting it and behind the scenes, and it was such a valiant effort against a very dangerous fire, that I felt they deserved some special appreciation."
The Green Wattle Creek fire began on November 27, 2019. It was brought under control on January 30 and the Taralga Brigade was still patrolling it until February 11, two and a half months later. Starting at Green Wattle Creek, some 60km northeast of Taralga, the fire burned over 278,700 hectares across Wollondilly, the Southern Highlands, the Southern Tablelands and the Blue Mountains and destroyed 40 homes in its passage.
When it entered the Upper Lachlan Shire, it took hold around the Wombeyan Caves area, posing a very real threat to the township of Taralga. At the blaze's height, dozens of appliances and hundreds of volunteer firefighters from around the country were based at Taralga.
Captain Sullivan said the efforts of all of those who helped out were greatly appreciated.
"The whole community just came together, as they always do out here," he said.
"On top of RFS volunteers from all over the place, local people provided every bit of support and assistance that they could. The Tarlo Brigade, for instance, provided us with fantastic meals. There were a lot of hands helping out and we wouldn't have been able to do what we did without them."
Upper Lachlan Shire Council Mayor John Stafford helped present the certificates and patches and said it was hard to do justice to the firefighters' efforts.
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"I've said it before, but it's impossible to put into words just how great a job these people did and how grateful we are to them," he said.
"And we'd feel that sense of gratitude even if they were strangers, but these are people we live with every day, that we pass in the street and see around town, and as a community we really want them to know just how much we value what they continue to do for us."
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The 22 members presented with certificates and patches were: Mick Chalker, Andrew Connor, Jade Davies, Tim Dowsley, Shane Frew, Jon Hirsch, Graham Lambert, Stewie McLean, Matt Stephenson, Sheridan Trevenar, Simon Williamson, Brad Sheridan, Jeff Chalker, Peter Davies, Mandy Lang, Steve Cosgrove, Matt Ainsworth, Roly Smith, Ken Ainsworth, Andrew Nixon, Graham Murray and Geoff Lang.
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