August 5, 2021
Firefighter Arthur “Wayne” Croydon has a very good reason to celebrate Rural Fire Service Week (August 1-7).
Wayne has been named the Rural Fire Service 2021 North Coast Region Volunteer of the Year.
The citation on his award reads:
For outstanding compassion, support, commitment and diligence as a member of the Kilkivan Rural Fire Brigade, guiding the culture of the organisation to encourage diversity and inclusion and to demonstrate respect and trust in understanding the differing perspectives during community engagement, and operational excellence and interoperability by developing strong relationships with neighbouring Fire and Rescue crews, Primary Producer Brigades and Rural Fire Brigades to achieve the best outcomes for the community.
Wayne has been First Officer of the Kilkivan Rural Fire Brigade for the past “four of five years” but has been fighting fires with his colleagues from Kilkivan for 20 years at least.
He will be officially presented with his award at a ceremony in Maryborough on September 22.
A QFES spokesperson said being awarded a regional Volunteer of the Year during RFS Week was a significant achievement.
“Nominations came from Wayne’s peers wishing to recognise his outstanding achievements – going above and beyond normal duties to provide significant contributions to the delivery of fire and emergency services in Queensland,” the spokesperson said.
“It takes a lot of dedication from our winners to leave their own home during an emergency and put the needs of their community first, and yet that is what our RFS volunteers do time and time again.”
Wayne told southburnett.com.au that it felt good to be recognised for his hard work.
And he was grateful that the “people on the firing line” had nominated him to the Area Office.
“It’s like a big family once you get on the fireground,” he said.
The QFES spokesperson reminded residents that the 2021 bushfire season also began on August 1.
“Thanks to the RFS we are well prepared. Bushfire Mitigation Plans have been finalised across Queensland and QFES and our partners have completed hundreds of mitigation activities,” he said.
Wayne is looking forward to another fire season like 2020 which was “not too bad”, unlike 2019 when wild bushfires raged across various sites around the Gympie Regional Council area.
