Sutherland firefighters - 1980

At about 0430hrs on Monday 3 November 1980, the phone rang at the Waterfall Residence of Neville Nicholson, at the time the Captain of Waterfall Brigade, waking him from sleep. On the other end of the line was a voice from the Heathcote Fire Control Centre who advised him of a reported bush fire in the vicinity of Gunjulla Flat, McKell Avenue Waterfall. "Would you go and have a look with the crew?" was the request made to Neville during the brief early morning telephone conversation.

Minutes later, Neville and a handful of other Waterfall volunteer firefighters climbed aboard the 'Waterfall 81' tanker and responded to Gunjulla Flat, which was a popular picnic area in the 1970s and 80s. On arrival the crew noted that the fire was at the back of the picnic area, had spotted over Waterfall Creek and was steadily burning in a northeasterly direction through tinder dry scrub. A light drizzle of rain was falling, and continued to fall throughout the morning.

At this time the crew suspected that the fire had started from an unattended wood fire BBQ from the previous day. Faced with the fire behaviour in front of them, the Waterfall crew began to deploy hoses and 'chase' the fire across the creek. Knowing that the fire was too large for one tanker and crew to handle alone, Neville put out an urgent call for reinforcements.

As a result of this request more than 200 firefighters answered the call to assist in fighting a blaze that would eventually see more than 2,500 hectares of bushland in the Royal National Park destroyed. The contingent included members from all 13 of the Sutherland Shire brigades along with resources from other districts as far away as Farmborough Heights in the Illawarra.

Among the large response that day was a crew of five volunteers from Sutherland Shire Headquarters Brigade, manning the fire truck callsign 'Headquarters 81'. The crew of Headquarters 81 consisted of:

• Steven Crunkhorn, 26 years old, a Deputy Captain of Headquarters Brigade and an electrical engineer residing in Heathcote. Steve was in charge of the crew that day.
• Gregory Rolfe, 24 years old, a banker who lived in Engadine.
• Vernon Stedman, 21 years old, a wood machinist who lived in Heathcote.
• William Cummings Jnr, 21 years old, a gardener who live in Miranda.
• David Marshall, 19 years old, who was also a Deputy Captain of Headquarters Brigade and an electronics technician who lived in Heathcote.

This crew of five young men were all seasoned firefighters who had experienced other risky incidents including escaping an imploding building that was engulfed in flames near Bell in the Blue Mountains during the previous bush fire season.

Throughout the day of 3 November 1980, the weather was 'normal' - it wasn't a hot day, with winds gradually increasing from the south as the day progressed. Small pockets of rain were experienced on the fireground during the overcast morning, which cleared in the afternoon.

Sometime that afternoon Headquarters 81 reported over the two-way radio they were going along Uloola track to fight a small outbreak. They were accompanied by two other tankers and their respective crews.

While the three vehicles were working along the Uloola track, another group of firefighters working on a separate sector of the fire reported via two-way radio that intense fire behaviour had been observed moving in a northwesterly direction up the valley in the area of Couranga ridge, travelling towards Uloola track. This new fire front was being fanned by a dramatic and almost gale force wind change, reported to have gusts as high as 70kmph.

Noting the sudden wind change at their location, the three trucks had decided to start turning around and began to make their way out. At 1732hrs Mr Brian Parry, the local fire control officer, issued a direction via radio to the three tankers, including Headquarters 81, to pull out urgently. Following orders, the tankers progressed back out along the Uloola track, with Headquarters 81 being the last truck in the group.

While the trucks were attempting to exit the trail the rapidly approaching fire swept over the track in a narrow path right where the Headquarters 81 truck was positioned. The fire was so intense that the four-metre high vegetation around the truck, on either side of the trail, was totally consumed by the fire.

Another fire truck, second in the convoy, was less than 50 metres ahead of Headquarters 81. It was unscathed but couldn't be seen by the crew through the thick smoke and flames. The approaching fire had hit so suddenly that no hoses had been laid out by the crew to protect the truck or themselves.

Only eight minutes after giving the order to pull out, Mr Brian Parry (along with crew from one of the nearby exiting tankers) discovered the ill-fated and fire ravaged shell of Headquarters 81 and its crew of five. The five men were found in a defensive position outside their truck on the side away from the approaching fire. One crewman was found crouched behind the driver's side front wheel, two were huddled under the middle right hand side of the truck and the other two were crouched behind the rear wheel on the driver's side. They had been asphyxiated by the lack of oxygen.

Fire trucks of this era had petrol engines. The Headquarters 81 truck had stalled due to petrol vaporisation in the fuel lines and the heat was so intense that the driver's side tyres had melted, the ladder had buckled and warped and the petrol tank filler spout had melted, although the fuel in the tank had not exploded. This damage was all on the side of the truck not in the direct path of the flames. The passenger's side of the truck, the side facing the fire, was less damaged and two plastic hoses on this side of the truck had not melted.

This evidence indicated that the crew of Headquarters 81 had been hit by an unpredicted fireball that had gone over the truck and rebounded off the small sandstone rock shelf next to them. No amount of training could have prepared the five men for this freak event.

Speaking about this terrible tragedy in the days following the incident, the President of the Sutherland Shire Council Mr Allan Andrews was quoted making this statement:

"No matter how highly trained firefighters are, something like that can happen so quickly. The fire changed direction so quickly."

I ask you all now to please remember our five fallen heroes Steve, Greg, Vernon, William and David. I cannot stress enough the fragility of life and unpredictability and dangers posed by any bush fire events, not only to our firefighters but also our residents and their families.

Account written by Senior Deputy Captain Brett Taylor, Waterfall Brigade.