COHUNA-RAISED Trent Eckhardt and partner Naomi Jewell made a rapid transition from holiday mode to bushfire relief work, with the experienced State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers pitching in to help in fire-hit Mallacoota recently.
They both offered assistance to the Mallacoota SES, being put into action at the town’s relief centre on New Year’s Day.
That was the day after fire struck the town, with Ms Jewell explaining how they got started at the centre.
“We hadn’t heard any information as to what was happening, so we went down (to the relief centre) to see if we could find out more. When we got there, we realised how undermanned they were at that time.”
She explained that was attributable to the fact nobody could get into Mallacoota at the time to assist, and some local volunteers had also lost their houses and weren’t able to immediately be at the centre.
“With our emergency services background we said we’re happy to help,” Ms Jewell said.
The couple was officially allocated to the Mallacoota SES through the Incident Control Centre.
Having until recently been controller at Hastings SES, Ms Jewell was able to take on a leadership role at the Mallacoota relief centre, freeing up others to take care of various essential tasks.
“We had no power, the water wasn’t drinkable at that stage. Resources were getting thin on the ground, so we didn’t have many face masks and those types of things,” she said, noting those already working at the relief centre were doing a fantastic job with limited resources.
The relief centre became the venue for a series of packed-out public meetings to inform people what was happening, later being the registration point for those seeking evacuation from the town.
Mr Eckhardt contrasted his experience in Mallacoota with his SES role assisting people after the 2009 Black Saturday fires.
“It was a bit of an eye-opener being involved during the event. With Black Saturday, it was pretty much a couple of days after (the event) I went up,” he said.
“Whereas, being there and helping out straight away, it’s a bit different when you’re impacted by it and were involved in it from the start.
“The fire event was still ongoing. There were still issues with evacuation.”
Mr Eckhardt outlined how seemingly difficult logistical challenges were overcome by the willingness of people to help at the relief centre.
“A truck would turn up with supplies and you’ve got to take pallet loads of stuff off, but it all has to be done by hand,” he said.
“So, it’s basically going out to the crowd and going ‘okay I need volunteers now to unload a truck’.”
He said he usually got more volunteers than needed for the task, ensuring the centre had more resources available when required.
Along with Ms Jewell, Mr Eckhardt volunteers at Hastings SES, but he is also registered with Frankston SES as that unit carries out road rescue operations.
The pair spent Christmas in the coastal town along with other family members, including their young son Ethyn, with the threat to Mallacoota only becoming apparent on December 30.
The Eckhardt family group of five, including Trent’s Cohuna-based parents Ron and Yvonne, were evacuated on January 5, being flown out by a C-27 Spartan military plane.
