Volunteer Firefighters Survive Bushfire Using Smart Plan

Seven volunteer firefighters huddled on a flat rock as an inferno roared around them, their survival depending entirely on keeping calm and trusting their training.

The volunteer brigade from Terip Terip, a tiny farming community in northern Victoria, had already been battling bushfires for over a day when they got an urgent call Thursday afternoon. Ruffy was under attack, and the team rushed to help with just a handful of volunteers and two aging trucks.

At a rural property called Good Morning Bill, everything went wrong fast. The fire jumped over their trucks and surrounded them completely, with flames blocking every escape route.

Haydon Martin was exposed on the back of a truck without proper protection when the fire approached. "I had to lay down on the back of the truck with a hose basically while the fire went around my head," he recalls.

With no way out, brigade captain Shannon Roach made a critical decision. Following advice from their former captain Geoff, whose property they were on, the team drove to a large flat rock and parked in a specific formation that would allow fog sprays from their trucks to protect everyone.

But there was a terrifying problem. The water gauge on one loaned truck kept showing empty, and nobody knew if they had enough water to survive the burnover.

Roach stayed on the radio, coaching her team through the terror. "Just take some deep breaths, we are going to be ok, we will get through this, just remember your training, use those fog nozzles," she told them.

The heat became so intense that Roach's watch and phone started burning her skin. Around them, cattle ran in panic and birds fell from the sky as the flames consumed everything.

Why This Inspires

These volunteers had every reason to panic, but they didn't. Their captain kept them focused on their training, and that discipline saved seven lives. Martin had been alone and exposed with only a hose for protection, yet the crew's coordinated effort and precise positioning meant everyone made it through.

Their calm under pressure shows what's possible when communities invest in training their volunteers. The Terip Terip brigade faced equipment challenges including faulty gauges and 22-year-old trucks, but their preparation and teamwork proved more valuable than perfect gear.

Through zero visibility and with trees and powerlines threatening to fall, volunteer Todd Eddy navigated the trucks to safety by following flashing lights. Every single person made it home, a testament to rural communities who train hard and look out for each other when disaster strikes.