The Five Mates crossing accident near Gerogery in 2001 and the Thredbo landslide four years earlier were tragedies requiring an immediate and significant emergency response.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Culcairn State Emergency Service volunteer Craig Elliott attended both incidents, and many others, during nearly 40 years with the unit.
This commitment has now been recognised by the NSW SES, with Mr Elliott awarded lifetime membership at a ceremony in Albury.
The Murray region presentation earlier this month also saw three Commissioner’s Commendations, a unit citation and individual members honoured for between five and 35 years of service.
NSW Commissioner Mark Smethurst and Member for Albury Greg Aplin attended the event, which involved volunteers from units in Albury, Urana, Culcairn, Holbrook, Tocumwal and region headquarters.
Murray region controller Bernard Kates said Mr Elliott was the only remaining founding member of the Culcairn unit, which was often called to road crashes along the Olympic Highway.
“He’s been a leading light in the rescue response there for all of his time with the service, and still going,” Mr Kates said.
Commissioner Commendations went to region headquarters volunteers Chris Jesshope and Lyndy Philpot and Tocumwal’s Kris Weiss.
As region radio manager Mr Jesshope led the recent upgrade of the Murray/Murrumbidgee radio networks.
“Chris was instrumental in engineering that, rolling it out, commissioning it and then showing our volunteers how to use it,” Mr Kates said.
“He clocked up several thousand kilometres getting around testing and meeting with our unit volunteers.”
Lyndy Philpot has been a Holbrook unit member for more than 28 years, with her service including two terms as unit controller and latterly local controller for Greater Hume Shire.
Mr Weiss oversaw a proposal that saw Tocumwal’s unit also become the local Volunteer Rescue Association squad and the Cobram SES unit in a move designed to reduce the administrative and fundraising workload for volunteers.
“It was quite a significant change for the rescue squad over there, it will allow them to focus on doing what they do best, providing that rescue service to their local community,” Mr Kates said.
Ten members of the Murray region headquarters unit received a unit citation for their work assisting other regions during severe weather and storm events between June to October 2016.
Ian Geddes, of Holbrook, and Urana’s James (Pat) Smith, were honoured for 35 years each of SES service.
