Gavin Parker is a 50 year veteran firefighter and still cannot quite believe he is paid to do it. Now, he is bewildered to be awarded for his service.
The Neerim South local has been awarded an Australian Fire Service Medal this Australia Day, recognising his half a century as a volunteer and worker for the CFA and FRV.
For Mr Parker, being a firefighter is just a family tradition, involving four generations to be precise.
He joined the Neerim South Fire Brigade in 1976 when his father was captain. His volunteering evolved over the years into employment, where he is an acting Commander today.
Mr Parker feels he owes more to the CFA than the CFA does to him. Firefighting gave him a career and took him all over the country and across the world.
“I guess there’s not too many jobs or volunteering roles where you’d have those sorts of opportunities and the organisation has allowed that,” he said.
“Both for FRV and also for CFA, you get to work with a real cross section of the community. You meet all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds that all come together under the one cause.”
Mr Parker has also seen disasters, having experienced the aftermath of Ash Wednesday, fought fires in Churchill during Black Saturday and led during Black Summer.
It was in the 1990s when he took on a full time role with the CFA. He is now employed by FRV following the merger in 2020.
He looks after the operations of CFA brigades mainly in the Latrobe Valley, leading training sessions and emergency operations in one of the most bushfire prone areas in the country.
The CFA has come a long way since he first joined.
“It’s been good to see some of the new things that have happened and some of the more recent changes. The introduction of emergency medical response and the difference that has made, as well as the road crash rescue support that staff are providing.”
The career has also taken him across the world, where he undertook scholarships in the United States and Canada to learn about firefighting abroad on many topics, including responding to fires in the power industry, a unique factor for his area of Gippsland.
For Mr Parker, receiving an AFSM came as a surprise for an activity he sees as a privilege rather than a chore.
“I think when I first looked at it, I thought, because it had a link to basically acknowledge and receive it, I’m thinking, is this a scam?
“I just thought it can’t be real. That’s what I first thought.
“I feel really honoured that I’ve had those opportunities and that people have had faith in me to do it right. Hopefully I’ve done similar things for other people, given them opportunities as well and encouraged people too.”
