National Emergency Medal

Former CFA Captain Helen Kenney

For Helen Kenney, receiving a National Emergency Medal is reflective of the people she has led for the past four years.

As captain of the St Andrews Fire Brigade up until last year, Mrs Kenney has provided leadership to her members through many significant events – including the bushfires of February 2009.

Heavily affecting St Andrews, the Black Saturday fires are etched in to the memories of the brigade’s volunteers.

“The fires still impact on our town and people in more ways than one,” Mrs Kenney said.

“Our brigade worked really hard during those fires and worked really well together given the number of obstacles we were faced with.

“I believe the community was really thankful that we were there – our volunteers were so dedicated and willing to help.”

Today, Mrs Kenney will travel to Canberra to be awarded a National Emergency Medal by Prime Minister Julia Gillard as part of Australia Day honours.

“I am very honoured but I do see it more as a brigade award than something individual,” Mrs Kenney said.

“During my time as captain, I was lucky to have been able to lead such a great group of people.”

Mrs Kenney has been involved with St Andrews Fire Brigade for about 12 years now and was introduced to CFA by her son.

“It is fantastic to be able to help the community but it’s also something you can get a lot out of yourself,” she said.

“It can improve your skills not only as a firefighter, but personally, through building your confidence and knowledge.”

Group Officer Steven Barling

Most CFA members who were on the ground on Feburary 7 2009 say it is a day they will never forget. Senior Volunteer Steven Barling is no different.

In 2009 he was Captain of Churchill Brigade and the first incident controller of the blaze which ravaged the area and claimed 11 lives. Like thousands of other CFA members he spent countless hours fighting the fire and weeks mopping up and this Australia Day he was recognised for his 25 years of dedication to the community. On Friday 25 January he was presented with the inaugural National Emergency Medal by Prime Minister Julia Gillard at an event in Flowerdale.

Humbled by the award, Mr Barling said he was honoured but could not do his job without his colleagues around him.

“I’m pretty excited, it’s nice to be recognised but there are a lot of other people who did things just as I did. It’s not just about me, but about everyone else who was involved,” he said.

In the weeks following Black Saturday, Mr Barling worked solidly to ensure the area would be safe again.

“[The February 7 fire] was the biggest thing I’ve ever been involved in. I had control of the fire for one and a half hours before it was passed on to the Incident Control Centre. It’s a day that I will certainly never forget and one I hope I never have to experience again.”

During his 25 years as a CFA volunteer Mr Barling spent 15 years as captain and is now a Group Officer looking after the Morwell, Hazelwood North, Churchill, Driffield, Yinnar, Yinnar South and Boolarra brigades.

After so many years as a volunteer, Mr Barling said it’s important that he enjoys what he does and is doing something the benefits the community.

The National Emergency Medal was established by The Queen to recognise unique contribution and significant commitment of those people who have provided service in response to a nationally-significant emergency. This includes the February 2009 bushfires, the floods that happened in Queensland during December 2010 and January 2011 and Cyclone Yasi.