By Casey Neill
There are only two CFA stations in the state that Ron Harris hasn’t worked at – and they both opened this year.
After 46 years serving as a firefighter across Victoria, the Springvale Fire Brigade employee is hanging up his hat.
It was firefighter John Minett, who died in the Ash Wednesday bushfires, who first suggested Mr Harris sign up.
“I joined as a volunteer in 1972 at Noble Park,” he said.
“In 1981 I joined the staff. I never planned to but just did.”
He arrived at Springvale in 1983.
“It’s just a great place to work,” he said.
“Because you work as a team, whenever you go to a job you always rely on other people.”
“The brigade’s been good to me.
“They’ve made me a life member down there.
“I’m a life member of the CFA.”
Age was a factor in the 68-year-old calling it a day, but health was the major reason for his decision.
He’s had several skin cancers removed.
“I’ve had three operations on my head, I’ve got to have more,” he said.
He’s going to enjoy life while he can by spending more time with his two children and five grandchildren, clearing out the back yard and getting through his to-do list – after footy season.
Mr Harris umpires with the South East Juniors and has clocked up about 1300 games, including 32 grand finals.
“I’m still getting grand finals so I’ll just keep umpiring,” he said.
He said the state’s biggest bushfires were the ones that had stuck with him, including Lara, the Otways, Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday.
The first big blaze he turned out to was in a rubber mattress factory in Dandenong Road about 1985.
He arrived at 9.30pm and it was still burning at 11am the next day.
“I went to Phar Lap’s stables when they got burnt down in Braeside Park,” he said.
“We got a report of a shed fire.
“We got down there and realised it wasn’t a shed and there wasn’t much left.
“The thing about the role is that there’s not one job that’s the same.
“No house is the same. They’re all different in design, they all have different people who live there.”
He’s also trained in emergency medical response and regularly reached heart attack and drug overdose victims before paramedics.
“You’re doing more life-saving work rather than just training and sitting around at the station,” he said.
One job that has stuck with him involved a mother driving her three children home from the Sandown races.
She swerved to miss a dog and hit a lamp post.
“All three children were ejected from the car,” Mr Harris said.
“They all died.”
He was among the first on the scene, and sent out the instruction to hold off on sharing the devastating news with their mother.
“While she’s alive and thinks her kids are alive, she’ll live because she’s got something to live for,” he said.
She called him when she got out of hospital and thanked him.
“She said ‘I deep down knew that the kids were deceased, but thanks for not letting me think they were’,” he said.
“It’s all part of the job.”
