Gunnedah’s Rod Byrnes was officially farewelled from Fire and Rescue NSW on Saturday night.
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The well-known community member recently retired after 16 years as captain and 39 years as a firefighter.
Rod shared an account of his time in the brigade at the farewell, reflecting on changes in uniform, equipment training and procedures.
He joined up on January 1, 1978 at the age of 17 with his good mate Ken Hartley, and has distinct memories of rushing to call-outs in shrunken boots and getting blisters on his heels.
Rod’s first major fire was at Gunnedah South Public School. After the blaze was extinguished, he and Ken were appointed to keep an eye on the building.
“We were both ringing wet and cold so to keep our mind off being cold we found a checkerboard in one of the less damaged classrooms and played checkers until the relieving team turned up two hours later,” he said.
Over the years, Rod built up good relationships with his fellow firefighters who praised his commitment to the safety of others.
Firefighter Paul Hartley was alongside Rod throughout his time in the brigade and said he had put in a “big effort”.
“[He was] young and fit. Rod used to have long blonde hair back then. He’s got a few grey ones now. I think that was a few of the members of the brigade that did that to him,” he said.
“Most of the blokes they’re fairly committed but Rod was the leader for 16 years so he’s done really well. He should be proud of the time he put in.
“He’s made his mark there.”
Retired firefighter Ross Scott joined the Gunnedah brigade not long after Rod and said they were even groomsmen at each other’s weddings.
“He was a great person to work alongside. He was very reliable,” Ross said.
“Rod was always one of those guys you could rely on to be there to help at any time. If you were in a sticky situation, he would do his best to get you out of it.”
When Rod became captain, Ross said he was "very safety conscious”.
“When others might see flames and go in gun-hoe, he’d stand back and assess the situation,” Ross said.
“He always looked after his firefighters.”
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