“Jasper?”
“Jasper? Put the blanket up.”
Watching the now viral video shared by NSW Fire and Rescue from inside a fire truck south of Nowra, you’d expect the first words heard on screen to be yelled. Screamed. Bellowed.
But the question is calm, the direction measured and the response swift.
As flames danced around the Central Coast crew, who’d travelled down to help battle the South Coast bushfires, you’d never know that inside Jasper’s mind, he thought he was about to die.
Here is the now viral video. Post continues after.
“100 per cent [I thought we were dead],” Jasper told Mamamia yesterday, reflecting on New Year’s Eve. “It was touch and go there for a few minutes.”
What saved them, on that final day of 2019, was the fact they kept moving. They were able to out-drive the fire which had turned from the front to the flank in seconds as a southerly blew through, quadrupling the fire front and increasing the ferocity.
“There were 17 of us [firefighters] in that situation, and not one was injured. We thought there were definitely eight fatalities. We drove out of there knowing that. It wasn’t until about an hour later, that we realised they were okay,” said Jasper.
Top Comments
Thank you and well done to Jasper, his fellow volunteer firefighters and paid firefighters alike.
For what it's worth, ans because it was pointed out in the article, speaking from Victoria, I understand that paid firefighters also sleep in the tent cities (happily) we see popping up near the fire affected parts of the state.
The firefighters that are put up in motels are those that undertake the search for missing people. You can appreciate that for mental health reasons, these search teams are better off in private accommodation - after a shitty day looking for bodies, coming back to tent city with all the noise and laughter etc is not what is best for them.
As I said, let's continue to celebrate all those risking their lives for our safety, regardless of where they sleep at night! Keep up the great work Jasper!