CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | Contact
You know you’ve got a tough job when you can spend the twilight hours of a Sunday morning rushing into a burning building to save a morbidly obese grannie and her water colours, but according to the West Bedourie fire service it’s not the worst part of the gig”
All of the domestic disputes they’ve had to resolve while attempting to stop an entire house from burning down, all the cute little kittens and puppies they couldn’t save, all of the gorgeous heritage listed Queenslanders they’ve seen burn to the ground – nothing is quite as bad as being paraded through town on the top of the truck dressed as Santa.
“It’s a tough one” says Antony Beveridge, one of the senior firefighters in the Diamantina area.
“No one wants this gig. It’s forty degrees out here and the council wants us putting on a full body woollen suit with a pillow under the top”
“I don’t why the fuck this doesn’t fall into the cops responsibilities, or the road workers, they are all much fatter than us”
With the town’s children now lining the streets to see Santa randomly appear on the top of a fire truck, Beveridge says there’s a nice community element to it, but it’s still something he won’t do without being made to.
“I guess it’s not the worse thing you can do while on the job”
“But I did it last year so fuck that”
