VOLUNTEER firefighter Karl Schreck has been formally certified as Crew Leader with the Pindimar/Tea Gardens Rural Fire Brigade, receiving his papers at the meeting held on Tuesday 7 October.
The elevated role comes with more responsibility, namely taking directions from a Group Leader or Captain and leading a crew of volunteers on the fireground.
The crew leader course runs for several weekends over four months, and is the latest step in Karl’s long personal history with the RFS.
“Hopefully this will benefit the brigade, but I still have a lot of learning to do, and look forward to mentoring from the older brigade members,” he said.
All volunteers have a reason they sign up, and Karl’s goes back to 2001 and the Black Christmas fires that swept through the Blue Mountains, Lane Cove and Royal National parks.
“We were based at Kurrajong in the Blue Mountains and saw the fires come out of the National Park onto the edge of our property,” he told News Of The Area.
“Several brigades, local and from across the state, helped save our property, fighting right on the fenceline.”
When he moved to Buckajo near Bega years later, a local meet ’n’ greet brought him into contact with local RFS brigade captains and members.
“The Black Christmas experience stayed with me, and although I wanted to join Kurrajong, I didn’t have the time to dedicate, but I managed to find a way to join in Buckajo.”
After attaining his Bush Firefighter (BF) qualifications, Karl’s first engagement was a “baptism by fire”.
It was in the 2018 Tathra fires, which involved bush and house fires.
Only a year later, he helped fight the infamous 2019-2020 fires that occurred in and around the Bega Valley.
Thankfully, his time at Pindimar-Tea Gardens has not been as fraught as his previous brigades.
Moving to the Myall Coast in 2023, Karl was transferred to the Pindimar-Tea Gardens brigade, where his nearly 10 years of experience and licence to drive practically anything on wheels have been major assets.
The biggest vehicle at Pindimar-Tea Gardens is the bulky (water transport), which requires a Heavy Rigid licence, but Karl’s ongoing 36 years of truck driving on his Multi-Combination (MC), is more than enough.
“I’ve probably been everywhere you could dream to go in Australia, from Perth to Port Hedland, most of the capitals – Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin – and everywhere else in between.
“You become accustomed to driving long distances in trucks, anyone can do it if they want to.”
By Thomas O’KEEFE
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