Firestorm - 6. FS Chapter 6

At that point, we clearly heard the 3 long whistle blasts, signalling the end of the training session. “Ok Murray, take your cadets, and return to your designated post, we may see you later” the captain said and Cadet Murray snapped to attention and gave a salute, which the captain returned, before the cadets headed off back towards the main cadet accommodation area, which was a good two kilometres away, meanwhile we headed to another area of the facility, where we will be staying for the next week or so.

After nearly 4 kilometres of hiking we were approaching the main SAS camp, when there was a sudden loud bang and a number of flashes of lightning, and we rushed towards the buildings to take cover from the sudden thunderstorm. Being from a farming background, I was fully aware what sudden thunderstorms like this can cause, and I headed to the administration area, where the three pontoon captains where in deep discussion with the CO.

“Excuse for the interruption sir” I said as I walked into the room, “Yes corporal Benning, how can we help you” the Lt Colonel said to me, “This sudden thunderstorm could be the start of more trouble to come, can I please recommend a fire watch be put into place, Sir” I said to the CO, who looked at the three captains. “Go and find WO Owens and get him to make the arrangements as suggested by the corporal here” the Lt Colonel said to one of the Captains’ who dashed off.

“Corporal Benning, we were just talking about you when you arrived, and what you have just suggested proves that you are capable of a lot more, it is the view of this group of officers, that we recommend to you, that you be transferred to ADFA - the Australian Defence Force Academy, to completed a degree in Civil engineering, and when you graduate in three years, you will be an Engineer Corps officer, what do you say to this recommendation” the CO said to me.

I was a little stunned at this announcement, “would I be able to have some time to think about it please sir?” I eventually replied, and the CO was about to speak again, when Warrant Officer Owens came rushing into the room, “Fire sir, north east corner of the reserve north of us, we have a north – north easterly wind, so it is heading straight for us, we have called the Chittering Shire Council’s chief fire officer, and also the WA Fire service” he announced to us, and the CO turned to me.

“Good call on the fire watch, corporal, this action can possibly safe all of our buildings with this fast action” the CO stated just as a sergeant came rushing in, “Sir, we have a slight problem, one platoon of twenty cadets have not returned to their designated post, the three cadet units are in the process are packing up, in preparation for evacuation, once their buses arrive in half an hour” the sergeant announced.

The CO turned to me, “Well Corporal, this is your area of expertise, what are your recommendations?” he said to me, and I thought for a few moments. “Well sir, it would be handy if we had some topographical map of the whole area, we need to speak to the cadet unit commanders, to establish what areas each unit was deployed for the manoeuvres, so we can cut down the search area, and to coordinate the evacuation of the cadets, next we need a helicopter in the air to be our eyes, for the movement of the fire, we need to contact the police to stop traffic on Dewar’s Pool road, and alert all the farms around the area of the facility and the Julimar State Forest” I suggested.

Totally forgetting the comm’s earpiece in my ear, I jumped a little, when a voice came over the system, “Captain Dunn to Lt Colonel, do you copy, over”, and the CO smiled when he saw me jump, “CO here, go your message” the CO responded, “Sir, I am with the Cadet Commanders, I have been informed that the buses have been delayed, and that they are ready to leave, once the buses do arrive, also the cadets missing are from the Grammar school” the Captain said.

“Captain this is Corporal Benning, please lead the cadets and their commanders to march out of the facility, and head west once on the main road, towards the main highway” I responded, “This is the CO, do as Corporal Benning say, this is his specialty field, and stay with them, let us know when the bus’s have arrived to pick them up, any sign of the Royal Engineers Corp, they should have arrived there by now” the Lt Colonel added.

“No sir, no sign of them, do I have permission to use their trucks to evacuate the cadets, if they do?” the captain asked, “Yes do that, and have the Royal Engineers remain with the trucks, we have enough man power to do the search, now where were the lost cadets last seen?” the CO replied, “north east of your location, they were dropped off at the Y junction, where the four buildings are located” was the reply, “Very well, CO out” the Lt Colonel said.

“Sir, I know that area, I have hiked in that area a number of times, in a straight line it is just over 6km’s north east of here” WO Owens said, and the CO turned to me, “Ok, get two platoons of your unit to head that way now, take the truck so we have two-way radio comm’s as well as these bloody sat comm’s” I said.

My last comment made the CO chuckle, “A good call, as there is no guarantee that the sat comm’s will work with heavy smoke in the area, what else Corporal? the CO stated, “Well sir, since we are near the northern boundary of facility, we really only have jurisdiction for the federal facility, but since we are the closest to the fire, we have the responsibility to take action to reduce any fire damage to any and all properties in the area, being new to this facility, I am not sure what fire-fighting equipment we have here” I responded.

“We have two fire units on the property corporal, a ute with a 1000 litres water tank, pump and hoses on the back, located here, and a trailer with a 2500 litre water tank, pump and hoses on the back, located at the cadet camp” the Warrant Officer replied as he placed the topographical map down on the table and unrolled it. “Good get a vehicle down there and have that trailer up here as soon as possible” I said as I looked down at the map, which was from the Bindi Bindi – Toodyay Road to the east and the Great Northern Highway to the West, the township of New Norcia to the north, and Toodyay and Chittering to the south.

“We really need that helicopter in the air to give us a report, can we contact RAAF Pearce, and ask for their assistance” I stated, “Already done Corporal, they should be reporting in at any moment” the WA replied holding up a VHF portable radio in his hand, and on cue, a call came through, “RAAF Pearce Rescue to Bindoon Army Facility, over”, “Bindoon to Rescue, go ahead, over” WO Owens replied.

“We are over the fire now, it is just south of that large clearing in the middle of the reserve, about 7 kilometres north of your boundary, there is a horizontal access track and firebreak about 3 kilometres south of the fire, which would be a good place to attack the fire, over” the rescue helicopter responded. I signalled to the WO that I wanted the radio, so I could respond, “Yes, we have that on the map in front on us, thank you for the information, what is the fires current speed and direction, over? I asked, “Current fire speed is approximately 2 km’s per hour and heading in a southerly direction, we will remain in the area for another twenty minutes, over” came the reply.

“Very well, rescue, thank you, over and out” I said and put the radio down and looked at the map. Pulling out a 50-cent coin I put it on the approximate location of the fire. Finding a note pad nearby, I jotted own the fire speed and direction, and the time, and I placed the note under the 50-cent piece. “Right, we have the truck doing the search, so Warrant officer, can you take the ute to collect the fire unit, and join us on the track the pilot mentioned, we will take the last two vehicles, and the fire unit ute, with as many men as we can carry to that firebreak, and start a fire backburn, to try and control the fire” I suggested.

“That sounds good, I will remain here to coordinate everything, so everyone off now, as recommended by the corporal here, dismissed” the CO said and we all headed out of the building. I went directly to the ute with the fire unit on the back, and in front of the water tank there was a long storage locker, which I opened, and found half a dozen fire lighting sticks, two containers of fuel mix, and some cigarette lighters.

Closing the locker, I checked the water tank, and it was full, then climbed into the front passenger seat, and a sergeant sat in the driver seat. “Do you know the way Sarge?” I asked, as three other soldiers climbed in, “Yes corporal, I do, so let’s get going” he replied as he started up the vehicle. Heading west down a track behind the buildings, we only travelled a few hundred metres, before turning right, till we reached a T junction about 4 kilometres to the north, and the Sergeant stopped at the junction.

I grabbed the map, and opened it up on the bonnet of the vehicle, “We are here at this T junction, near the western side of the reserve” the Sergeant said to us, as we gathered around. “Ok, we have 6 fire lighter sticks, let’s get two men hanging down on the side of both vehicles, starting from here, one heading west and north, the other heading east and north, if you go at about 10 km’s an hour, you should get a good burn started.

I will stay here with the fire-fighting unit. Stop once you are just below in line with the fire’s current location, and once it is burning on all sides, it will go up very fast towards the centre, and should burn itself out, from there it will be a matter of patrolling the sides and putting out any small fires still burning” I suggested.

Once the fire sticks were filled with fuel and lit, the two vehicles set off to do as I suggested, with 6 men on each vehicle, and the Sergeant stayed with me. “Sergeant Harris to CO, over” the sergeant said into the vehicle’s UHF radio mic, “CO here, go your message, over” came a quick reply, “Commencing backburn now sir, Corporal Benning says it will burn its self out, once the reserve is lit on all sides, over”.

“Very well, Sergeant, let me know how it pans out, oh and just to keep you in the loop, the Royal Engineers arrived shortly after you left, they have all the cadets from the camp off the facility now, and the helicopter has returned to Pearce to refuel, before returning, over” the CO said.

“Understood sir, we will keep you posted, over and out” the sergeant said. “All we can do now is wait, and hope that this all goes well, which it should, as I have seen this done a number of times” I said with a smile. “Warrant Officer Owens to Fire Controller Benning, over” I heard a voice over the Satellite system, “Benning here, go with your message” I responded, once I activated my mic.

“We have arrived at the junction, 3 kilometres south of the junction where the cadets were dropped off, and where they should have been heading, but there are no signs of foot movement anywhere in the area, over” I heard in reply. “Did you stop at the junction about halfway down, and check foot traffic there, over?” I asked, “Affirmative to that Corporal, we are heading back to their original drop off location, to see if we can see what direction they headed, over” came a reply, “Copy that, keep me posted on that.

Fire controller to CO, if you are listening in, can you divert the RAAF chopper, to do a sweep of the area north east and east of the airfield please, over” I responded, “CO to fire controller, message received and understood, over and out” the CO replied.

“Man, you are good, I don’t think I would have thought of half of the stuff you have said since I walked into the meeting back at the base” the sergeant said to me, “Thanks Sarg, now let’s get going, I want to do a patrol of the backburn, let’s start on the west side first, to as far as that team has gone, there we will double back and check on the other team” I suggested, as folded up the map and headed to the front passenger door.

By the time we reached the second team, the fire on all sides was well alight, and heading towards the middle of the reserve, and it was moving fast towards the middle of the reserve. “Well, I have never seen anything like it, but I think your strategy is working perfectly” the sergeant said to me as we stopped to watch. We both climbed out and stood on the back tray, to get a better view, and we could see that it was doing well.

Just as suddenly, the wind changed from a northerly wind to a strong westerly wind, and the fire on the eastern side started to die out, and I watched closely as the fire burnt out, and slowly the smoke cleared enough, for me to see the fire on the western side, was now racing in our direction, thankfully a good one kilometre of burnt bush stood between us, but the look of horror on the sergeant’s face, as he saw the fire racing towards us was interesting to see.

“Relax Sergeant, the fire will burn out, once it reaches that line of burnt area, all we have to do is watch out for any embers to drift over us, and burn bush and grass east of us” I said to the sergeant, as I turned around and scanned the area to the east of us. Within two hours the fire had burnt itself out, and there were no small fires to the east of us, which I was pleased about, as I climbed down and activated the sat comm’s.

“Fire controller to CO, over” I said, “CO here, go with your message, over” came a quick reply, “Sir, I am happy to report that the fire is out, there is no more fire threat, over” I responded, “Copy that Fire Controller, I have received a similar report from the RAAF rescue chopper, well done Benning” the CO said.

“Team effort all around sir, we will do a full patrol of the area before returning to the facility base, over” I replied, “Very well, also to keep you posted, the lost cadets have been found, over and out” the CO said and we climbed into the vehicle.

“Fire controller to fire teams, message from the CO, well done, return to Facility base, we will do a patrol and return once completed, over” I said into the UHF Radio mic, “Copy that fire controller” came the reply from both teams, and moments later, one vehicle passed us heading south, waving as they passed. “A job well done, and all completed before lunch” the sergeant said to me with a big smile and I chuckled at this comment.

When we did arrive back at the facility base at 1145 hours, we saw about a dozen 4-wheel drives with fire-fighting units on the back, parked out the front of the main building, along with a two department of Fire & emergency services fire units, and a parks and wildlife vehicle. As we entered the administration building, just one office clerk at her desk, “CO is in the main meeting hall” she informed us and we turned and headed that way.

As soon as we entered the hall, everyone began to applaud, and I tried to back out the door again, but was stopped by the sergeant, “Oh no you don’t Corporal, you deserve this, so suck it up” he said to me, so I just stood there looking at everyone in the building, which consisted of the SAS and the Royal Engineers, plus all the visitors, as I saw the CO approach me, and he motioned for silence.