Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate four brave rural firefighters from Crescent Head Rural Fire Brigade. Their calm actions during a bushfire saved their friend and senior deputy captain Brian Beilby's life and earned them the commendation of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner. Greg Kings, Mary Rogers, Kym Trickett and Cameron Dann received a bravery award on St Florian's day last week. The four heroes were at a bushfire on Seale Road, east of Kempsey, on 27 May last year. At that time Senior Deputy Captain Brian Beilby became unwell, so he rested in the truck while his team inspected the fire. A short time later Mary Rogers checked on the welfare of Senior Deputy Captain Brian Beilby and found he wasn't breathing and had lost consciousness. Ms Rogers immediately called for help and CPR was performed by Brigade Captain Greg Kings and Cameron Dann, and an ambulance arrived to transport Mr Beilby to hospital. Upon reflection, the rescuing RFS members said that they were just keeping calm and dealing with the situation at hand. Well, we know it's a great deal more than that. It is because of their generous hearts and the countless hours of volunteering and building up such skills that they were able to respond calmly during an emergency and save the life of their friend. Thank you, Greg Kings, Mary Rogers, Kym Trickett and Cameron Dann.