“We are proud to have Alan Burtenshaw, volunteer firefighter, in our Röhlig team in Australia”

My Journey

Alan Burtenshaw – Business Manager, NSW, Röhlig Australia

 “Although not complete, my journey has been one I will never forget and I hope never to see again. I have been in the Rural Fire Service as a volunteer with THE OAKS Rural Fire Brigade for over 6 years and this is by far the biggest emergency event that myself and every member of my Brigade have seen” (Alan Burtenshaw)

This year fire season started early, towards the end of September. Conditions of the ground were a scary sight knowing all too well that this year was not going to be good. Australia has seen a very dry winter again with very little rain and this makes for a very worrying fire season.

It began in October with a small storm in the Burragorang Valley, which is very close to Alan’s home. This valley is very dense and not accessible by vehicle, only aerial access. The storm had very little rain but was full of lightning. The lightning struck the valley and started 3 small fires in remote terrain. The OAKS crews were flown in by helicopter and dropped onto the ground to attempt back burning operations to contain the fire.

Unfortunately, this did not work and the fire continued to grow at a rapid pace. Helicopter water bombing commenced and again it was an effort that would see no result. The focus then turned to contain the fire to the local area, although it was going to burn 50,000 hectares, the goal was to stop it from spreading further.

Sadly, this too was an ineffective exercise. The fire was extremely intense in this dense bushland and the fire jumped the Lake which was being used as a containment line. The fire had jumped a distance of 500 meters (1500ft) to ignite another fire in the unburnt country. The lake mentioned is Burragorang Lake which is fed through Warragamba Dam which supplies most of the drinking water for the population living in Sydney. The water has been contaminated with ash and embers from the fire burning around it and now requires further screening and treatment to be drinkable.

As the fires spread, they grew with intensity. Alan and his brigade spent days and nights on the fire ground moving from property to property to save what they could. They witnessed loss and to see this within their own community was devastating. The crew helped the community, each waking hour was spent doing what they were trained to do.

“All the training in the world could not have prepared us for what we experienced. Although I was confident and ready to fight this monster, a 50m flame height (150ft) barrelling towards us does trigger a moment of doubt in your mind. But our training and years of experience kicked in and we fought like never before. To say I was scared is an understatement. I was scared but I knew what I needed to do. 14 hours a day was spent on the fire ground with very little time to rest. We were all tired, exhausted and completely fatigued. But as soon as we laid our head to rest, our thoughts were all about getting back out on the fire ground to help”, commented Alan.