Letter from Grant Haar

Hello All ,

I recently worked at the NSWFB‘s Display at the Royal Easter Show .I met many past and present Firefighters , as well as hundreds of members of the public - who I might add , remarked on the great job, we do in PROTECTING THEM , from all types of emergencies and disasters .

One retired Firey , who left quite an impression on me , was 941 S.O.Brian O‘Gorman aka “ BOGGER “ .

He joined this great job in 1946 - just after the finish of WW2 . He retired in 1982 after 36 years service .

Stations he served at , as a Firey were 17 , 12 , and HQ (now COS ) .As an S.O. he served at 10 and 5 from what he could recall .

This spritely 84 y.o, had traveled down by train from the Central Coast , by himself , as he‘s wife was unwell on the day .

Brian , was amazed at how the “job” had changed , and in particular was impressed by the” Be Safe Not Sorry “ T.V. Campaign Commercials we had screening on the large Plasma T.V. in our Display .

He had smoke alarms installed in his home , but was unaware of the SABRE program ( Until I got into his EAR.............he may have turned down the volume on his HEARING AID ).

He said , his nearest FIRE Station was Bateau BAY , and that it was permanent . Brian now knows to contact them , when the battery needs to be replaced .

Brian , asked me to say hello to all members out there , to say that he
was fit and well , and that he had now enjoyed 24 years of retirement
.
“ BOGGER “ ,also said , say hi to all the Firey‘s that had served under his command .

Thanks for reading this little ditty............
Cheers

6423 Grant Haar
Senior Firefighter
NSWFB
Community Risk Management
Amarina ave
Greenacre
Ph - 9742.7400
Pax - 7264
Mob - 0419 417 836
Fax - 9742 7483
grant.haar@fire.nsw.gov.au