Ellen and Jason honoured for service to RFS
Two local long-serving members of the Rural Fire Service were honoured at an honours ceremony. Ellen Townsend and Jason Wall have marked 61 and 30 years of service, respectively.
Ellen and husband Ray (dec) were residents and farmers in the Boyd area for a very long time. Ellen grew up in the area, on a property known as “Gum Creek”. She has been a tireless volunteer with the Rural Fire Service (RFS) since 1960 and held the position of the Boyd Brigade Deputy Captain for an impressive 52 years. She was also a Brigade Permit Officer from 2007 to 2013. Ellen is well known across the district for her role in radio operations.
During the Hay Plains fires of 1990, Helen managed all the communications on her own – relaying important messages on the old HF radio. Ellen also initiated a reoccurring radio check across the Murrumbidgee Shire; every Sunday all the trucks in the Shire were checked. They were called on the radio and expected to respond. Ellen coordinated this until about 2010, then she decided to slow down a bit.
Ellen has always been supportive of any newer members stepping up to try and fill her shoes. Ellen also instigated a phone tree process for when fires started in her local area, ensuring everyone kept their tree updated and knew what to do. In 2011 Ellen was inducted into the DPI Hidden Treasures Honour Roll for her dedication and work with the RFS. Ellen remains an asset to the service today, passing on her vast knowledge.
Ellen is a worthy recipient of the Long Service Medal 5th Clasp.
Jason joined the Hay Headquarters brigade in 1992. He was the brigade Training Officer from 2002 to 2003 and regained that role again in 2014 maintaining it to this day. He was also a Deputy Captain from 2001 to 2006.
In 2003 Jason gained a position as a staff member, becoming the Community Safety Officer for the Mid West team. In 2010, he became the Manager of the team. In 2013 the Mid West team merged with the MIA zone where Jason became the District Coordinator.
Jason has participated in many Incident Management Teams during his time with the service, usually in an Incident Controller (IC) or Deputy Incident Controller (DIC) capacity. Jason is also trained in Operations and Planning roles.
During the 2019/20 bushfires, Jason spent countless weeks away from home working on the Major Incident Control (MIC) desk at the NSW RFS head office in Sydney. Jason is always making time for volunteers, no job is too big or small.
As a local Hay resident, Jason has a passion for helping out in his local community. He is on a number of local committees and is highly regarded in his small town. Jason is a worthy recipient of the National Medal and 1st Clasp.
Congratulations to two of our local heroes!
