Narooma's Peter Kearney has been fighting fires for 57 years and his favourite part of the role is aviation.
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As an air operations manager he has been on large air tankers, operated in the Lismore and Glen Innes floods and fought fires in the US.
Instantly hooked
Since Mr Kearney joined the Country Fire Authority in Victoria in 1966 he has been both a volunteer and a salaried fire fighter.
His first brush with aviation was not until 1997 when there was a major fire at Coonabarabran, north of Dubbo.
"I was working on the ground as sector leader and they sent me two helicopters.
"I didn't know what to do with them," Mr Kearney said.
Over the next two years he was sent to two more incidents and was mentored by one of the RFS' best aviation operators "because I enjoyed it".
In 2000 he was sent to the Hawkesbury to assist with aviation.
"That was the first time I had a management role in aviation on my own," he said.
As air operations manager he deals with logistics.
Air attack supervisors are responsible for the pilots while they are in the air but report to the air operations manager when they're not flying.
Fighting fires in the US
A highlight of his time in the RFS was fighting fires in the US in 2006.
"Because we have the same management system for major incidents and the same structure as the North Americans they can come here and we can go over there and fit right in," Mr Kearney said.
This also enabled US and Canadian firefighters to help during the Black Summer bushfires and Australian firefighters to return the favour last year.
"You spend two days in Biose, Idaho, familiarising.
"It is usually a 40-day deployment of 16 days on, two off, 16 days on and a day or two to debrief before coming home," Mr Kearney said.
"It is great fun because they invite you to sit with them because they love to hear our accents."
Floods and fires
Since moving from Bathurst to Narooma in 2013 Mr Kearney has been called to act as air operations manager around seven times.
He spent Christmas 2021 in Lightning Ridge fighting fires, operated in Lismore floods and more recently, in the Glen Innes floods.
He had to complete RFS Aviation Basic Knowledge to become an air base operator. while aviation radio operators need a special qualification to speak with aircraft crew.
"There is more to the RFS than going on the truck and holding the hose," Mr Kearney said.
He wouldn't have it any other way.
- This story first appeared in the Bay Post
