Impressive service

For 16 years Mr Basham has been involved with both the Rural Fire Services and the State Emergency Services in the Northern Inland region on a professional level, but the end of this year will mark his retirement. 

Although Mr Basham said he would be missing his latest job as deputy region controller with the SES, he is also very much looking forward to stepping back and “taking a deep breath”.

And that will be well-deserved, as the resume of the 64-year-old shows an impressive history of duty.

Starting off 24 years ago as a volunteer with the Rural Fire Services in 1989 in his hometown Gilgandra he became employed with the RFS in Moree in 1997 as the first full-time deputy fire officer. Mr Basham said that his position fell under the council at the time and that his one-year contract was followed by another two years, and that the service ended up with three staff members.

In 1999 he moved to Warialda to fill the role of joint fire control officer for the Yallaroi, Bingara and Barraba shires. He stayed there until 2002 but returned to Moree again as fire control office district manager, a position he held until the end of 2005.

In early 2006 Mr Basham transferred to Castlereagh’s Coolah office to work as an operation officer for the zone.

“We had big fires there,” recalled Mr Basham, “Especially in the Pilliga Forest and it also threatened the outskirts of Coonabarabran. The affected area was in access of 60,000 hectares”.

Mr Basham said they luckily managed to save all residents and dwellings.

In 2007 it was back to Moree “for the third tour of duty”, transferring to the SES where he stayed up until this year. 

The last leg of his career, where he and four other staff members were responsible for 12 regional units “from Mungindi to Tenterfield”, controlling 263 volunteers in total, was mainly coloured by floods.

Many people easily recall the 2011 and last year’s flood events, Mr Basham said, but not everyone in the wider districts knows that prior to the floods in 2011 the McIntyre and Barwon Rivers were affected by six months full of flood events. 

And on Australia Day this year, while Mr Basham was enjoying breakfast back home with his family in Gilgandra, he received a phone call to come to Moree “ASAP, as every river system in the North West region was in flood”.

Not without pride in his voice Mr Basham said that they managed all that from the small regional office in Moree.

“We had very little assistance (only two persons) from NSW head office, as the rest of the state was focussed on the floodings on the coast”.

The serviceman at heart recalled that as the flooding eased at the Northern Tablelands, the police requested assistance in a land search to locate a possible missing person in Tenterfield and that they also provided personnel to assist there.

But what does his job entail? The regional office provides support, resources and information to the local units whilst they look after the affected communities. 

“We issue flood bulletins, plan for future developments (i.e. in the event of more rain, we prepare for more flooding), arrange filled sandbags, and monitor real life data.

“If moving personnel around, we have to arrange accommodation too.”

Working under such hectic circumstances brings staff and team members close together.

“We have been fortunate to work and assist volunteers in good interaction,” Mr Basham said, adding that from performing day-to-day work they shifted to becoming an incident management team when storm or rain hit.

“I quickly became accustomed to that, perhaps due to my sporting background. (But) it is a team effort.”

The work over the years had been very rewarding Mr Basham said, and he said it had been great to receive recognition from others too. Especially when the ‘others’ included the mayor.  

“After a particularly difficult day in a flood event, a small group of five had toiled all day and when it looked like we were on top of it, the (Moree Plains Shire) mayor (Katrina Humphries) walked in with cakes and goodies saying ‘It looks like you need a breather’. That’s the sort of community we have here”.

Overwhelmed by having received special thanks from the Moree council and the local services committee Mr Basham said that “they are the sort of memories you will take with you”. 

During his whole career Mr Basham’s family stayed in Gilgandra. “I really want to thank my wife and family for giving me the chance to enjoy my career. Somehow we made it work. My kids said they can’t recall missing me at any of their milestones,” Mr Basham said thankfully. 

Once on his long service leave the retiree will return to his hometown and “do a bit of travelling”. Having seen most of Europe in his younger years, the touring will be mainly around Australia including visiting his daughter in Townsville.

“I have been asked to volunteer with the SES back in Gilgandra and I am also a life member of the fire brigade there… But that won’t interfere with my travel plans,” Mr Basham laughed