Five members of the Sutherland Shire’s Headquarters Brigade died on Monday the 3rd of November 1980 when their truck was caught in a burn over on the Uloola track near the township of Waterfall. They were Alan Crunkhorn (26), Gregory Rolf (24), Vernon Stedman (21), David Marshall (19) and William Cummings (21).
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The five fire fighters were in a truck leading two other trucks down the Uloola walking track to fight the fire in the Royal National Park. “The fire was sweeping towards Waterfall”, Police Sergeant Max Diven said. “The two other trucks turned to head out of the track when they saw the wind changed direction. The area around the trucks was completely burnt and the truck itself was burnt to a shell with the men found huddling in a defensive position on the opposite side of the truck to the direction from which the fire was coming. There was no way of knowing why the men stayed on the track or whether they could have escaped in time”. |
Bill Cummings Waterfall
3/11/1980 |
Waterfall fire from Heathcote Oval © Photo I Cunningham. |
Shire President, Councilor Andrews described the deaths as “a grave tragedy”. “The men who died on Monday were the first casualties ever suffered by a Sutherland bushfire fighting unit The most tragic aspect is that a vehicle was less than 50 metres behind them when they were trapped by the flames” he said. “The other men are taking this very hard but they are still carrying of their duty in protecting our community”.
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Shire Salutes Courageous Fire Fighters
About 600 people stood in the
grounds of the Woronora Cemetery for two hours for the services of each of
the victims of fires in the Royal National Park. All members of the Sutherland
Shire Bush Fire brigades tuned up for the funeral and later had to rush to
fight flames from a fire blown by westerly winds into the park. The five coffins
were draped in the Australian flag and each carried a fire fighters helmet.
The Sutherland Shire also organized a public memorial service which was held
on Sunday 16th at the Civic Centre. Members of the Shires 13 Brigades attended
along with their vehicles forming a guard of honour.
(Excerpts from The Sydney Morning Herald 8th Nov, 1980 and the Leader 5 Nov
1980)