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Dse Hero Ben Rankin Awarded Australian Service Medal

Ben Rankin, Fire Management Officer at Swifts Creek has been awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal for his outstanding work during the Alpine fires of 2003.

By Department of Sustainability and Environment - 27th January 2004 - Back to News

The award is specifically for: "Distinguished prolonged service and leadership in wildfire response in Victoria, NSW and USA and the demonstrated exceptional personal ability to bind the whole community through the difficult response and recovery phases following the significant Alpine bushfires of 2003 plus the exceptional skills in delivering critical operational firefighting training."

Mr Rankin is currently the DSE’s Senior Fire Management Officer for the Swifts Creek/Bairnsdale Fire Districts in Gippsland, but his background in fire and forestry stretches over many years.

DSE Chief Fire Officer Gary Morgan paid tribute to Ben’s community engagement during and after the Alpine fires.

"I am really pleased that Ben has been recognised with Australian Fire Service Medal," he said.

"Ben is highly regarded for leading community around Swift’s Creek from a fire perspective," he said. "His work really brought the community together."

Following his graduation with a Certificate of Applied Science (Creswick) 1977, Ben was posted to Swifts Creek as a Forest Officer. In 1985 he was promoted to the position of Operations Area Supervisor, which he ably performed until he became the Swifts Creek District Fire Management Officer in 1993.

Throughout his career Ben has been extensively involved in the management of both wildfires and the use of prescribed fire. His experiences have been at local level on the fireline, at local level as the Senior Fire Controller and at State level as a Senior Fire Controller and Operations Officer. His experiences have also included ‘tours of duty’ in senior fire management roles in NSW and the USA.

During Ben’s career he has attained the highest level under the ‘Australian Inter-Service, Incident Management System’ of Incident Controller and has been called upon often to exercise control of major wildfire operations. His recent performance during the 2003 Victorian Alpine Fires as the Senior Fire Controller for the Swifts Creek Incident Management Team, has been acknowledged both within DSE and by many others involved in the protracted emergency period, as being outstanding. Apart from his leadership during the fire his interaction with the community and other Emergency Agencies, and his management of the ‘post-fire’ recovery and rehabilitation activities, has been handled in a professional, tireless and competent manner.

Ben has also spent some considerable time over the past decade delivering fire management training to staff and has been extensively involved with the development of training competency packages associated with forest firefighting, and communications protocols. He is also an accredited Assessor of Level 2 Fire Controllers and is a State Trainer and Assessor of Level 3 Fire Operations officers.

Ben was awarded the National Medal for his extended service to the community in fire management in 1992. His on-going commitment to fire response at the most senior Fire Control Level and his dedication to fostering productive relationships with other agencies, and with the community in the execution of emergency duties, make him an excellent candidate for the award of the Australian Fire Service Medal.

Ben said that it was a bit of a shock when he got the news of the award and that he felt very humbled by it.

"I feel pretty honoured that someone would recognise the years of firefighting in this manner," he said.

"I think that from a fire point of view, you're only as good as the team you work with, so this is a reflection of the people I work with as much as myself."

"Over the years I've worked with a lot of good people, all doing their best to have a successful fire fight. It's a bit humbling to receive an award of this nature for something that we all do as part of our jobs."

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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