It raged for 63 days and tested brigades like no other blaze in 'old hands' living memory.
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The Green Wattle Creek fire took off in the Picton area on November 26, 2019 and reached near Wombeyan Caves area by December 4.
It eventually burnt about 278,700 hectares across Wollondilly, the Southern Highlands, the Southern Tablelands and the Blue Mountains and destroyed 40 homes.
As Taralga RFS Brigade captain John Sullivan explained, firefighters hardly stopped in their quest to protect life and property, and the community banded together in support.
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"We were fighting it for 63 days and that was after a lot of members had been on out of area deployments to Braidwood, Glen Innes and Grafton," he said.
"It was a big ask for people but once they were in, they were in. They were there to make a difference."
On Saturday, April 23, 31 of the 35 Group 10 members, were awarded the National Emergency Medal, instituted by the federal government in 2020 to recognise those who fought the 'Black Summer bushfires.'
Group 10 comprises Taralga, Laggan, Golspie and Roslyn brigades and is captained by Andrew Nixon.
Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman, Upper Lachlan Shire Council Mayor Pam Kensit, Deputy Mayor Mandy McDonald, Southern Tablelands RFS zone manager, Peter Alley, Inspector George Shepherd and Group 10 captain, Andrew Nixon, attended the presentation at Taralga fire shed.
Some 16,000 Emergency Services Medals have been distributed to RFS personnel throughout NSW and another 10,000 to support agencies.
Mr Sullivan said it recognised a major effort on the brigade and community's part.
"The members were working 12 hour shifts day and night," he said.
"After seven days they had to take a day off but most were still doing things to help out. I know, as a captain, I couldn't sit on my hands knowing there were people out on the fire ground.
"...Because of its magnitude, it was a really challenging time. We knew we couldn't control it and it wasn't something we could cut off. It just kept rolling and all we could do was steer it around properties. The only thing that put it out was the rain on February 11, 2020."
Fortunately the Taralga region didn't lose much in terms of property and unlike at the Southern Highlands end, no firefighters lost their lives.
Mr Sullivan said the the blaze was unlike any other that older members of the community could remember.
While few firefighters talked about the experience, it had a unifying effect.
"You become a team and it builds morale because you're always out there together," he said.
"It's the closeness and reliance on your mates that builds faith and confidence in what you're doing."
Mr Sullivan said the COVID pandemic soon after meant there was little time for a debrief but the brigade had learnt valuable lessons from the experience.
"The brigade looks back on it as something we performed well on in terms of our approach and we kept going to build momentum."
He told The Post it was an honour to be Taralga Brigade's captain, a role he'd performed for the last nine years.
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Louise Thrower
If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0418 229 678.
If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0418 229 678.
