“Put the wet stuff on the red stuff”: Steve’s firefighting story

CHRISTMAS, 2019.

Steve Chester should have been putting his feet up, relaxing with loved ones and recharging his batteries ahead of another big year with Quality Wool.

Instead, he was defending his community from some of the most ferocious bushfires in our nation’s history.

For Steve and many like him, this is the brutal reality of volunteering in the Rural Fire Service (RFS), often being called upon at short notice to put themselves in harm’s way for no reward other than keeping the people and places they love safe.

The Parkes resident is a 15‑year veteran of the Parkes Headquarters RFS, having felt compelled to volunteer his time after witnessing a catastrophic fire near his home town in 2005.

However, his first encounter with fire and flames actually dates back to the early‑1970s.

“My first memory of firefighting was with my late dad back in 1972,” Steve said.

“I was thrown in a fire truck as we raced towards a fire and being understaffed, I ended up being on the end of a hose.

“My instructions were to ‘put the wet stuff on the red stuff’ – I will never forget that saying”.

Since joining the Parkes RFS, Steve has achieved 14 levels of competency and currently holds the positions of Senior Duty Captain and Brigade President.

Most recently, Steve was hand‑picked to be part of ‘Strike Team Alpha’ during the devastating bushfires that ravaged Australia in the early part of this year.

The team’s mandate was to be operationally ready to deploy to any part of New South Wales within 15 minutes – a reality which soon became frighteningly real for Steve and his colleagues.

“One Friday night we got the call,” Steve said.

“There was a crew trapped at Kerry’s Ridge near Rylstone, and we had to go in and respond.

“Thankfully, we found the firefighters safe and sound and were able to return them to base”.

The Kerry Ridge blaze would continue to burn for 79 days, scorching 191,000 hectares of land before officially being declared “out” on February 10^th.

Steve was also deployed interstate in late‑2018 to Gladstone, Queensland, as dozens of blazes burnt out of control in the central part of the state.

After helping to contain the fires through back burning operations, Steve and his team were personally met and thanked by relieved State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, while grateful locals even offered the “firies” surfing lessons as a token of their appreciation.

“I had to say no thanks to that,” joked Steve.

“I definitely can’t surf”.

Beginning his career as an apprentice electrician before moving into wool, Steve has chalked up half a decade with Quality since joining the family‑company in 2015 after the acquisition of Western Wool (who he started working with in 2007).

He has been connected to the Central West for his entire life having grown up in Parkes, and in addition to his RFS service is also a passionate volunteer with other community organisations such as the Parkes Show Society, as well as spearheading Quality Wool sponsorships of community events such as the Ted Little Memorial Merino Ewe Field Day and the Doug Bicket Memorial Merino Ewe Competition.