Today I formally resigned as a firefighter, as required to be a member of Parliament. As I said from the very beginning, on the 30th of November, regardless of the result in Frankston, I will have the honour of serving my community either as a Firefighter or as I worked toward- the Frankston State Member of Parliament. I would like to thank all the outstanding ladies and gents Ive had the pleasure of working with over the past almost 14 years, Firefighters, Paramedics, SES, Coastguard and Police. Below are just a few memorable and challenging incidents my crews attended which immediately come to mind thinking back- should jog the memories of some of those I have worked with around the state-in no particular order: The Frankston football grandstand fire, Cranbourne rd 12 hour HAZMAT, the recruit course flashover incident, Gould St rescue, Dunlopillo structure fire, the early 2000s bushfire strike teams, the 9/11 white powder incidents (inlc. the attack cats), Morwell trench rescue, Black Saturday, Morwell mine fires in 2006 and 2014, the day of the 2014 Frankston freeway fire, the sieges and finally some of the more technically difficult / triage motor vehicle accidents ( you know which ones). Frankston staff and volunteers, especially D and B platoons- Thanks for making every day a joy to come to work, there was never a time you let me down as a Leading Firefighter and I am proud that there was nothing we couldnt achieve as a team, no matter how physically or mentally demanding. Doug, Kirky and Fordy- thanks for your patience and being the best mentors ever. Heres a couple of images I found whilst cleaning out the desk.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:22:57 +0000