Hi, I'm Sienna, I am a fire station kid and this is my story.
Last summer NSW had terrible fires and it became known as Black Summer.
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My mum and dad are firefighters. I call myself a fire station kid as we spend lots of time at the fire station. I'm always there helping and we have big barbecues and lots of ice cream with Stringer who is a brigade member.
My Dad, Jesse, is the Captain of Broulee Rural Fire Brigade and my Mum Kelwyn works for the NSW Rural Fire Service and is also a volunteer member at Broulee.
My mum was travelling around NSW to work at fires from August 2019, when, dad and our brigade members started heading up to Northern NSW to assist with fires there. Then, in November fires started here and from then on until February 2020 Dad and the crew were busy fire fighting locally.
My mum and dad were both on TV shows throughout this fire season. My dad even went on SKY News live TV when Paul Murray was hosting a show in Batemans Bay.
Sometimes it's hard being a fire station kid, as I worry about my parents and our brigade members. This season some firefighters died, which makes me worry when they are on the fireground.
When the fires came to Broulee on December 31 2019, my mum was away working at RFS Headquarters and my brother and sister and I got relocated to my Nan and Pop's house in Moruya.
It was scary knowing that my dad could die. When the fires kept burning mum and dad sent us to safety to stay with friends in Canberra. We were away from them for a couple of weeks and it was hard as we couldn't talk to them because the power and phone were out.
This season some firefighters died, which makes me worry
- Sienna, aged 9.
When we came back to Broulee, we were happy to see our parents, friends and neighbours. When we saw all the burnt trees, bush and villages I was devastated. It was hard to see our beautiful area burnt. Mum and dad were still working on the fires so our summer was spent with friends and family worrying about the fires.
Mum and dad both helped Mogo Zoo with advice about the fires, we all got invited to the reopening of the Zoo where we met Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, who led NSW through the terrible fires.
My mum and dad encouraged me to write this story to share our experience and encourage others to talk about the fire season to recover from the events that occurred. I encourage others to share their story.