Having joined the Gunning-Fish River Rural Fire Brigade at the age of 15, Krystaal Hinds knew she would have to draw upon all that experience during the Black Summer Bushfires.
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Ms Hinds, like many in Southern Tableland Rural Fire Service (RFS) brigades, was deployed up and down the east coast from September 2019 to February 2020 during that horrific fire season.
It's for this and two decades of service in the RFS that she has been awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours on June 13.
The Gunning local said it was an honour to be recognised for service that has seen her undertake roles such as Brigade Secretary, Training Officer, Deputy Captain and Brigade Captain.
"It's not really sunk in, no. It's a very big honour and will take a little bit for me to get my head around," she told the Post.
"This isn't just about me, I'm only one person amongst many in the service that could be recognised. That's what's so good about the service, it's full of good people who want to help."
During the Black Summer, Ms Hinds was deployed as a Strike team leader as well as Divisional Commander, undergoing repeated deployments including near Taralga.
It was an experience she won't soon forget.
"It was a very busy and trying season," she said.
"I think it was just the scale of it and the continuation of it. It just never seemed to stop. Normally you go through a bit of a peak season during summer and then it dies down but this one was just relentless.
"It tested everyone's emotional and physical capabilities to be honest.
"For a lot of the crews down here in the Southern Tablelands, the first deployments started in September and the last ones were in February."
Apart from fighting fires, Ms Hinds has also been instrumental in re-invigorating Gunning as a training brigade and with people flooding to the regions, it's set to get a whole lot busier.
"I've been involved heavily in the training of up and coming firefighters and developing the skills of existing firefighters," she explained.
"Each brigade sends firefighters into zone training so I've been involved in those zone courses for the last 10-15 years and also re-establishing the Gunning brigade as an active and training [brigade].
"Gunning is busting at the seams at the moment and we've had new people join the brigade.
"After a big season there is a lot of interest in people wanting to be involved, which is only natural. It's wonderful for brigades to get that rejuvenation."
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