Volunteer firefighters saved 56 homes during last week's out of control blaze at Carwoola. But some brigades are struggling to obtain vital equipment to help them do their job.
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Jamie Lanksord spent 10 hours at the fireground on Friday, leaving his public service job early to help save lives and homes.
"It was an all-in firefight basically," he said.
"It was a big day, I was there until we got released at 3.30am. By the time I got home it was a 24-hour stint."
Mr Lanksord then spent Saturday night at his local showground in Murrumbateman, shaking a bucket at a fundraising event for one of the two brigades he volunteers for.
They're trying to raise $2000 for a thermal imaging camera, which makes searching for hot spots after a fire that much quicker and more effective. Instead of physically turning logs over, the camera can spot a hot spot from 50 metres away, Mr Lanksord said.
The importance of such a task was seen last week when hot spots were still flaring up during hot days at Carwoola after the main blaze was brought under control.
"It takes the weather to warm up, the naked eye to miss it and a single ember in the wind to pick it up and it's all on again," Mr Lanksord said.
After the 2003 fires in Canberra, Mr Lanksord, who belongs to a brigade in the ACT and one in NSW, said Canberra's resources were bolstered to ensure that never happened again. Across the border, it was a different story.
He said volunteer brigades were given the minimum they needed to do their job, which was why they relied on community support to obtain the equipment that made their lives easier.
For a few hundred dollars a truck can be fitted with an electric winder to wind up the hose and get going again, he said. Another example was the implementation of an electric roller door, so firies could get away quickly under lights and sirens, and not have to heave a big chain to open the shed door when they returned, already exhausted.
"It's not like the government hasn't provided the means and the equipment to do the job, but there are better options around that they just can't afford because it's such a large state."
Mr Lanksord said he was grateful that at the fundraising event after the fire, the community chipped in more than $300 to purchase the thermal imaging camera.
A spokesman for the NSW Rural Fire Service said as a community-based organisation, the brigades work in the community every single day of the year.
"It is great that members of the community choose to support their locals brigades. Donations made directly to the volunteer brigades are always gratefully received and are a tremendous help," the spokesman said.
