Firefighter Jeff Hogan has raised his family in Winmalee, and so when the fires hit his street in 2013 there was personal weight behind him as he worked among the burning houses of his neighbours.
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"Living in the area that's been impacted, trying to continue to do my normal work as a firefighter was really, really difficult," Mr Hogan told the Blue Mountains Gazette.
Since then, the FRNSW Superintendent has taken up position as Zone Commander for Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury and Lithgow, driven by a first-hand understanding of the need to protect your home.
With more than 30 years of firefighting service behind him, Mr Hogan has worked in various specialised units, worked at the FRNSW training facility at Orchard Hills, and was Zone Commander in Western Sydney based in Huntingwood.
His focus today is on encouraging community engagement with fire safety, and encouraging capable residents to give back locally in a rewarding way.
"If you're fit, and you're healthy, and you can pass our recruitment processes, there's opportunities to come and be a part of our team," he said.
Mr Hogan said there are currently on-call firefighter vacancies at Katoomba, Lawson, Mount Victoria, and Springwood, and occasionally elsewhere.
On-call firefighters are paid with a fortnightly retainer fee, as well as pay per incident, but Mr Hogan said the key driver is the feeling of giving back to the community.
Anyone interested in learning more or applying to become an on-call firefighter is encouraged to visit www.fire.nsw.gov.au and navigate to the 'Careers and volunteering' section.
