By ANEEKA SIMONIS
LONG-TERM firefighter Ivan Smith was honoured for almost 50 years of service with the Country Fire Authority (CFA) at the Australia Day Award Ceremony on Monday.
Mr Smith, who began his dedicated career in protecting the community with the Narre Warren North Rural Fire Brigade in 1967, was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) for his many triumphs, particularly his second-to-none service during Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday.
Mr Smith was an accredited Level 3 Incident Controller during the Bunyip State Park Fire in 2009.
“His outstanding leadership, and innovative approach to strategic planning and the use of trigger points, ensured that no lives were lost, and asset losses were minimised,” the award citation read.
Mr Smith said Ash Wednesday in 1983 – a fire which claimed the lives of two crews of six firefighters – made him realise he would never give up protecting people from fire.
“I knew the people there so well. We trained together and had barbecues together,” he said.
“From that moment on I made a pact with myself … while I could still draw breath, I was going to help prevent anything like that happening again.”
After eight years of service at the Narre Warren North brigade, Mr Smith became captain in 1975.
Among many notable achievements, Mr Smith championed the Australian Inter-agency Incident Management Systems (AIIMS) and helped other stations learn and use the vital incident report program.
He was also commended for helping train new generations of fire service leaders, incident management personnel as well as helping communities prepare their homes ahead of fire season.
Mr Smith, who celebrated his milestone 70th birthday last week, said his career was much like a marathon – long but incredibly gratifying.
“It feels pretty good getting reward after a long sustained effort,” he said.
Cardinia Shire Council also had the pleasure of having Mr Smith on a fire safety committee for over 30 years.
The dedicated firefighter served on the Cardinia Shire’s Local Advisory Committee/Fire Prevention Committee for several decades.
He said the only problem with the prestigious Australia Day Award was that is didn’t formally acknowledge his wife, Gwen, who helped him fight every fire.
“Without her, I wouldn’t function.”
Mr Smith remains part of the Lang Lang CFA.
