BALMORAL, VIC. — A humble and dedicated Balmoral Country Fire Authority (CFA) firefighter was recently awarded a prestigious accolade by his peers for his significant contributions to CFA’s planned burning and fuel reduction program.
Jeff Piera is a major contributor to CFA’s Planned Burn Taskforce Team (PBTF), travelling to many places across Victoria to assist and support roadside and landscape burns.
CFA’s Southwest Region Bushfire Risk Advice Coordinator, Paul McCallum, attended the Balmoral Fire Brigade meeting on Wednesday 20 May to present Jeff with an ‘Exceptional Contribution to Fire Prevention’ award.
Jeff, who has been a member of Balmoral for over 30 years and a former Captain, said the award came as a heartwarming surprise.
“I don’t do it to be acknowledged; I do it for the community,” Jeff said.
“I’m retired, and I’ve got the time to do it. It keeps me out of mischief, and I love the people I work with – they’re all great people.
“As a firefighter, I’ve also done a lot of deployments across the state in strike teams, such as in Emerald, at the Hazelwood mine fire in 2014, and more recently in both the Grampians and Great Otways National Parks. I really enjoy it.
“I received a National Emergency Medal for my time spent in New South Wales fighting the fires in the 2019-20 summer bushfires.”
CFA delivers planned burns at the request of landowners and managers of road and rail corridors, council land and reserves to help reduce fuel and bushfire risk.
To help bolster this priority, CFA supports its volunteers with the PBTF, made up of over 900 volunteers from brigades across the state that are deployed to conduct these burns.
Jeff, formerly a truck driver and construction worker, first got introduced to CFA’s PBTF when a crew came up to Balmoral to conduct a burn.
“The taskforce came up to do a few burns on the side of the road, and we assisted as a brigade, and I got talking to everyone and it all kicked off from there,” Jeff said.
“It’s a good thing to do, and they’re just good people. My Captain Matthew Harris has been nothing but supportive of my involvement.
“We’ve had burns all around the southwest, around places like Mortlake, Apsley, Hexham, Hamilton, Warrnambool and Camperdown. As well as out west in Ballarat and Horsham.
CFA Planned Burn Taskforce Support Officer Kerryn Tait said Jeff is one of the taskforce’s biggest contributors and is always first to put his hand up to attend a burn.
“It is such a well-deserved award for Jeff. He shows interest for every deployment pretty much around the state – he wants to do them all,” Kerryn said.
“In a deployment we need all sorts of personalities, such as leaders, doers etc, and whatever role he’s given, he takes it on without question and delivers every time.
“He embodies the true spirit of CFA, and he’s quirky, funny and very easy to work with. He follows instructions well and you never hear a complaint.”
