VIC: Gov Gen praises character and courage of firefighters

AAP General News (Australia)
12-19-1998
VIC: Gov Gen praises character and courage of firefighters

MELBOURNE, Dec 19 AAP - Fighting bushfires had helped forge Australia's national character,
the Governor General, Sir William Deane, today told a memorial service for five volunteer
firemen killed in the Linton bushfire.

About 5000 people gathered at Kardinia Park in Geelong to attend the service along with the
Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett, Victorian Governor Sir James Gobbo and opposition leader John
Brumby.

Sir William told the mourners, who included hundreds of fire fighters from around Victoria,
that firefighting represented "all that was best in Australia, including mateship, courage,
selflessness and sacrifice".

"The tragic death of your five colleagues led us as a nation at the beginning of summer to
pause and take stock of the importance and danger of your work," he said.

The five firefighters were all from the Geelong West fire station.

They died when their truck became trapped in a wall of fire after a change in wind
direction at Linton, near Ballarat in western Victoria, in December 2.

AAP gf/jmr/kr

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRE VIC BENEFIT DAYLEAD

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