Volunteer Profile: Gary Hooker, ACT Rural Fire Service

Gary Hooker, AFSM, FCPA, MACS (CP) has been a volunteer with the ACT Rural Fire Service (ACTRFS) for more than 18 years. Recently awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal, Gary reflects on his time with the Agency.

What was your motivation for joining the ACTRFS?

In early 2002, at the age of 41 years old, I had reached a point in my life where I decided I wanted to do something completely different, preferably outdoors, away from computers, and at the same time serve others in the community.

At that time, I was a career Public Servant at middle management level, had already completed a part-time Bachelor of Economics Degree at ANU, had a supportive wife and was in the process of raising two boys aged 12 and 10 years old.

I had up until that point spent most of my career being totally immersed in my work. I was a very busy accountant doing bean-counting and human resource management work.  My whole world was “work, work, work”.  I was also in the middle of changing tack on my career path within the APS. I was moving from doing finance and human resources roles to broadening out to do more hands-on SAP IT systems administration, database administration and IT management roles. I have been an SAP IT specialist for the last 20 years or so.

My personal interests were the outdoors, camping, 4WD’ing, trail-bike riding, having a beer with friends and photography.

I was racking my brain. What else could I do? I then had a light bulb moment and thought that perhaps I should join either the SES or RFS, as they broadly aligned with my outdoor interests and would get me out of the office and into the bush more.

About the same time, I attended an information session held at Guises Creek shed.  I signed up for the ACTRFS on the spot and completed my Basic Firefighter (BF) course prior to the start of the 2002-03 Bushfire Season. 

As a brand-new BF, my baptism of fire commenced with the January 2003 Canberra Bushfires. I spent about 10 days as a crew member and gained quite a lot of fire-ground experience in a relatively short period of time.  I became hooked on the ACTRFS and have really enjoyed my ACTRFS journey ever since then.

Where did your passion for photography come from - are you specifically interested in fire photography?

I first became interested in photography after I left school in 1978, aged about 18 years old. I had only a handful of photos of my entire childhood and this really concerned me. I bought a cheap plastic film pocket camera and took it with me wherever I went so I could capture my life from then onwards. 

I often took my pocket camera when trail bike riding in the Brindabellas and Namadgi National Park (affectionately called “the Brindies”).  Over time, I also got to know most of the fire trails in Namadgi and surrounding areas and explored everywhere on my Yamaha XT 500 trailbike.  I took photos of pretty much everything of interest, including scenery and mates falling off their trail bikes or getting bogged in the mud holes. 

I was a bit of a “yobbo” in the 1970’s, had a mullet haircut, wore flannelette shirts, did wheelies on my bike everywhere, drove an EH Holden panel van and used to do the laps of Civic on a Friday night with the lads.  I liked ABBA and AC/DC and the Paul Hogan show kept me in stitches all the time.

Meanwhile, most weekends I was still riding up in the Brindies on my trail bike.  Without any real planning, I just sort of started taking images on my pocket camera as they happened. That is how my photographic style developed. I just kept an eye out for good images and captured interesting and funny events.

What I did not realise at the time was that I was also developing a deep love of the Brindabellas and Namadgi National Park by being out in there so often. This was significant as I knew I would later be up there many times over the years in various fire vehicles, amidst the smoke and flames.

The Canberra Bushfires of January 2003 had a significant impact on me. I still have many images of the 2003 fires ingrained in my head. For example, being up near Bendora Dam when the fires started and later driving through Duffy in the aftermath of the firestorm and mopping up. It was like Armageddon. Unfortunately, I only took one roll of film during those entire fires, and deeply regret not taking many more pictures, particularly as I was on RFS tankers for about 10 days. I simply forgot to take my camera most days.

Attached is my first RFS group photo taken on that single roll of film at a crew changeover at Guises Creek shed.

I am actually interested in all sorts of photography, not just shooting fires. I have shot many landscapes, weddings, portraits, family and friends, events, astro, macro and other photography.

Today I have a photo and video collection of more than 600,000 images. About half of my collection is ACTESA related. Not only have I been an active firefighter for 18 years, I have also simultaneously captured much of the history of the ACTRFS and fire in our region.

I am very fortunate to have been able to combine my two passions of being an ACTRFS volunteer and a nutcase photographer together. I guess I have found my niche’.

What's your most memorable moment with the ACTRFS?

My most memorable moment with the ACTRFS is standing on the back of Guises Creek 12C tanker during the middle of a firestorm in the paddock across the road from the Nerriga, NSW Pub on 21 Dec 2019. It was surreal. It was very hot at over 40 degrees amid catastrophic fire weather conditions. We drove for about two hours to get there, we received the emergency warning by text of imminent impact and did not have time for a briefing. We had to take a defensive position immediately upon arrival.  The day was turning into night as the fire approached.  The fire then impacted the township. It took nearly two hours for the fire-front to pass through and for the smoke to clear so we could see grey smoky daylight again.

Attached is one of the photos I took of Rivers 12C tanker nearby while we were under ember attack in the eye of that firestorm.

There are plenty of other memorable moments I can think of particularly during the Black Summer 2019-20 fire season where I performed active firefighting duties for 41 days. During this time I served on major fire grounds located in northern NSW, Braidwood, Nerriga, Adaminaby and the Orroral Valley areas.

In addition to time spent firefighting, I went up to the top of Simpsons Hill, Chisholm nearly every day for about 19 days to capture the progress of the Orroral Valley fire from afar as the fire progressed. I also engaged with the community in fire safety education and spent countless hours editing photos and videos captured during the season. 

What does it mean to you to be honoured with the AFSM?

I feel a bit overwhelmed and am very humbled by the recognition.

I wept the day I opened my letter from the Office of the Governor General.  It released a lot of emotion from deep within me which I did not realise I had bottled up. I was so touched.

I see myself as being just an ordinary Aussie bloke, and a bit of a larrakin with a good heart.  I am a husband, father and grandfather. I have really done nothing special, other than being committed to my ongoing passions of RFS activities and photography. I feel very honoured that my long term commitment and ongoing service to the broader community has been recognised by the AFSM award.

I celebrated Australia Day 2021 in my sons back yard with my loving family (attached). My family are the most important people in my life.  Kym, my beautiful wife, has been my backbone and supported me for 18 years.  She was always concerned about my safety when on fire grounds and out doing RFS-related activities. I also have elderly parents, and two sisters, one of whom is disabled and non-verbal, whom I love very much.

Have you received any other awards/medals for your work with the ACTRFS?

I have received the ACT Emergency Medal for attending the January 2003 Canberra Fires and the National Emergency Medal (NEM) for attending the February 2009 Victorian Black Saturday Fires. Like so many others, I have received the ACTRFS Long Service Medal after 10 years of service, and the National Service Medal after 15 years of service.

Wrapping Up

I have taken this opportunity to reflect upon on my own life experiences, and how my ACTRFS volunteering activities have helped shape and influence my thinking and outlook on life. 

I am currently working behind the scenes with a small group of RFS and SES volunteers who are together compiling a photobook of the 2019-20 Black Summer Fire Season. I am also learning how to fly my new drone and take photos and video footage from the air. This is the next level of photography which I aim to master this year.