NEW South Wales Bushfire Emergency Citations have been presented to Forestry Corporation staff, acknowledging their contribution to the 2019-20 firefighting efforts.

NSW Emergency Bushfire Citation recipients receive a citation, certificate of recognition, commemorative cap and a letter from the Premier acknowledging their contribution and thanking them for their service.

Acting CEO Anshul Chaudhary said Forestry Corporation staff and forestry contractors were heavily involved in the firefighting efforts, alongside around 65,000 NSW Rural Fire Service volunteers and service personnel, as part of the State’s coordinated firefighting efforts.

“Forestry Corporation plays an important role in the coordinated firefighting response, working in close partnership with the NSW Rural Fire Service, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Fire and Rescue NSW,” Mr Chaudhary said.

“During the black summer fire season, Forestry Corporation staff completed over 16,000 individual firefighting shifts, equating to in excess of 250,000 hours in firefighting and incident management. Forestry Corporation also engaged a range of contractors to support the firefighting efforts, including heavy plant operators, aircraft and other service providers.

“While the forestry industry has key skills and expertise in forest firefighting and particularly using heavy equipment to create roads, fire breaks and containment lines, due to the scale of the fires last season our staff were involved more than ever in direct protection of homes and communities.

“I congratulate all our staff for their monumental contribution throughout the 2019-20 fire season and their ongoing commitment to the recovery efforts that have been taking place since to repair infrastructure and regrow affected forests for the future.”

Tom Newby, Protection Supervisor – North Coast said, “Everyone on the fire response plays an important role, whether in the incident management teams, firefighting and even our colleagues who keep the business running while we are firefighting, and it was nice to see this recognised.

“We’re pleased to play a role in partnership with the other firefighting agencies involved to help protect the community.”

 

By Sandra MOON