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Tuesday, October 22, 2013 1:42:15 AM
Photo of exhausted firefighters goes viral
Ashleigh Gleeson Date October 21, 2013
"We were waiting for the fire to come up to the road; we needed to take a break
when we could..." Photo: Phil Hearne
They worked through the night in horrific and dangerous conditions so Catherine Hill Bay would survive - though these firefighters don’t consider themselves heroes.
However, that is what people across the world are calling them after an image captured by Newcastle Herald photographer Phil Hearne went viral over the weekend. The photo, which shows exhausted firefighters sleeping by the road as flames lap close by, has been seen by 3.7 million people on Facebook. By last night it had received around 4300 messages of thanks.
"We were waiting for the fire to come up to the road; we needed to take a break when we could."
Matthew Jones-Power, 24, was one of the Wallarah Rural Fire Service brigade members taking a nap on Friday morning. It was his first break since 2.30pm on Thursday.
On the job: Josh and Matt Jones-Power were in the photo that went viral. Photo: Dean Osland
‘‘That was pretty crazy, we just stopped for about two seconds to catch our breath,’’ he said.
‘‘We were waiting for the fire to come up to the road; we needed to take a break when we could.
‘‘It had been non stop for about 24 hours.’’
Matthew’s younger brother, Joshua, 17, had likewise been fighting fires around the clock – even though he was in the middle of his HSC exams.
‘‘You look out for your own community and I wanted to take the time to help out others,’’ he said.
‘‘We were stationed right across from the pub and that’s when we were told it’s coming at 110km/h, that it’s a hundred feet and it’s just going to come straight down on top of you.
‘‘All hell broke loose. It was like you were in a sauna for the whole time.’’
Brigade deputy captain Josh Iffland rushed straight from a full day at his paying job to start his long shift fighting fires.
‘‘We worked all through the night so we were dead to the world,’’ he said.
‘‘That fire wasn’t going anywhere, it was pretty safe at that point.
‘‘Everyone put in 150 per cent, when it’s your own area it’s just got to be done.
‘‘We just do our job and do it well – none of us are heroes.’’
Matthew said the team had been encouraged by the support.
‘‘[It] makes us love our community even more.’’
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/photo-of-exhausted-firefighters-goes-viral-20131020-2vuz9.html#ixzz2iQUFUF9c
Ashleigh Gleeson Date October 21, 2013
"We were waiting for the fire to come up to the road; we needed to take a break
when we could..." Photo: Phil Hearne
They worked through the night in horrific and dangerous conditions so Catherine Hill Bay would survive - though these firefighters don’t consider themselves heroes.
However, that is what people across the world are calling them after an image captured by Newcastle Herald photographer Phil Hearne went viral over the weekend. The photo, which shows exhausted firefighters sleeping by the road as flames lap close by, has been seen by 3.7 million people on Facebook. By last night it had received around 4300 messages of thanks.
"We were waiting for the fire to come up to the road; we needed to take a break when we could."
Matthew Jones-Power, 24, was one of the Wallarah Rural Fire Service brigade members taking a nap on Friday morning. It was his first break since 2.30pm on Thursday.
On the job: Josh and Matt Jones-Power were in the photo that went viral. Photo: Dean Osland
‘‘That was pretty crazy, we just stopped for about two seconds to catch our breath,’’ he said.
‘‘We were waiting for the fire to come up to the road; we needed to take a break when we could.
‘‘It had been non stop for about 24 hours.’’
Matthew’s younger brother, Joshua, 17, had likewise been fighting fires around the clock – even though he was in the middle of his HSC exams.
‘‘You look out for your own community and I wanted to take the time to help out others,’’ he said.
‘‘We were stationed right across from the pub and that’s when we were told it’s coming at 110km/h, that it’s a hundred feet and it’s just going to come straight down on top of you.
‘‘All hell broke loose. It was like you were in a sauna for the whole time.’’
Brigade deputy captain Josh Iffland rushed straight from a full day at his paying job to start his long shift fighting fires.
‘‘We worked all through the night so we were dead to the world,’’ he said.
‘‘That fire wasn’t going anywhere, it was pretty safe at that point.
‘‘Everyone put in 150 per cent, when it’s your own area it’s just got to be done.
‘‘We just do our job and do it well – none of us are heroes.’’
Matthew said the team had been encouraged by the support.
‘‘[It] makes us love our community even more.’’
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/photo-of-exhausted-firefighters-goes-viral-20131020-2vuz9.html#ixzz2iQUFUF9c
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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