General News
3 February, 2021
Top honour for Mark Roberts
LOCAL firefighter Mark Roberts received the highest award for an Australian firefighter at this year’s Australia Day honours.
LOCAL firefighter Mark Roberts received the highest award for an Australian firefighter at this year’s Australia Day honours.
Mr Roberts, a member of the Cobden Fire Brigade, received an Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM).
The medal recognises distinguished service from paid or volunteer members, however the modest Mr Roberts said he was initially reluctant to accept it.
“I had to process the initial shock and realised there must have been people who had thought long and hard about this nomination,” he said.
“You’d think it’s more for people who’ve been around for 50 or 60 years and have done an exceptional job so that really puts it in context.”
“You don’t do this for the awards or the accolades, but I guess this is recognition of the position I was in after the St Patrick’sDay fires.”
The St Patrick’s Day fires ripped through more than 40,000 hectares around Cobden and Terang in 2018, with 10,000 stock lost across 219 farms.
“The biggest problem was the peat fire which just kept going for up to 10 weeks afterwards,” Mr Roberts said.
“I never took over the incident but played a role of constant contact with the local community.
“Such a drawn-out process like that means there are many different Incident Management Team changeovers, so it was important to help keep everyone on track.”
Mark’s leadership skills have also developed beyond his own brigade, after taking on Cobden Group Officer role in 2007, as well as many years of coaching juniors throughoutthe area.
“We’ve got some good lieutenants that I coached 20 years ago who are moving through the ranks and if that helps keep them around then it’s good for the town and good for the brigade,” he said.
CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said the honour bestowed on AFSM recipients reflects their remarkable service to the Victorian community.
“Mark and the other CFA members to receive this award exemplify the organisation’s values of safety, teamwork, adaptability, integrity, and respect,” he said.
“They have been integral to saving lives and properties in their own communities and beyond.
“CFA is honoured to have such distinguished members of the community amongst our ranks.”