The magazine known as “the volunteer fire fighter” is the official magazine of the Volunteer Fire Fighters Association.
2023 January

Volume 14 No 2:
- President’s Report
- Secretary’s Desk
- Bad Fire: Good Fire
- The Best Bushfire I Ever Attended
- VALE: Firefighter Colin Burns
- Privately Managed Land vs Unmanaged Land (Public Land)
- Why We Burn Again and Again
- Discipline in the NSWRFS
- The Phantom Speaks Out
- OAD Rule Change Gives Emergency Services The All Clear
- Centurion Fire Rescue Equipment
- Forest Fire Management
- How 1970s Conservation Laws Turned This Paradise On Earth Into A Tinderbox
- Politically Correct Fire Management
- Operational Brief: U-Turn Bays
- VFFA Membership Form (Free to Join)
2022 June
Volume 14 No 1:
- President’s Report
- From the Secretary’s Desk
- The Imbalance of Power
- Ladies Firefighter Training and Information Day
- RFS Volunteer Profile
- Fire Investigation in the NSW RFS
- Trip Down Memory Lane
- Saving our Forests and controlling our Climate
- The Drift of the Forests
- Traditional Management
- Volunteer Profile
- Kosciusko National Park: A Habitat for Mega Fires
- To Burn or Not to Burn
- Firestorms
- Are Drones, UAVs or RPAs part of our future?
- Our Megafires are a Political, Not a Climate Crisis
- Logging and Bushfires, Is there a Connection?
- Australian Bushfire Historic Imagery from 25 January 1952
- Major Bushfires in Australian History
- Opportunities for Improved Fire Management in Australia
- Forestry Corporation NSW
- When the Bushfire came, I Cheered!
- VFFA Membership Form (Free to Join)
2021 Winter
Volume 13 No 1:
- President’s Report
- Bushfire Preparation
- Small Planes, Helicopters and Drones
- Justice for Volunteers
- Recognition of your Service
- Standing by your Mates
- The Tumut Valley Fire (1965)
- Forest Hazard Reduction
- Wildfires, Fuel and Hazard Reduction
- Farm Fire Safety
- 2019/20 Giro & Bretti Fires (Photos)
- VFFA Membership Form (Free to Join)
- VFFA Supporters Directory
2020 Winter
Volume 11 No 2:
- President’s Report
- National Disaster Arrangements
- RFS Tanker Design
- Six Shades of Fire Lighters
- RFS Catering Volunteers
- After The Gospers Mountain Fire
- Bushfire LIVE
- Goin’ Bush
- What did we do to deserve this?
- Hazard Reduction Works
- Book Review: Fire Country
- VFFA Membership Form (Free to Join)
2019 Summer
Volume 11 No 2:
- President’s Report
- Update on RFS Volunteer abandoned
- Bushfire Cycle Revisited
- Landline
- Koalas & Catastrophic Fuel Loads
- Deputy Premier
- Potato Point
- Roy Butler – NSW Member for Barwon
- Belowra Station Opening
- Goin’ Bush
- NSW Member for Murray
- RFS Volunteers Hand Their Medals Back
- NSW Farmers: An early start to bushfire season
- More than a Tummy Bug
- The Base Camps
- NSW Member for Orange
- Angel Flight
- The Phantom Say’s
- VFFA Membership Form (Free to Join)
2019 Winter
Volume 11 No 1:
- President’s Report
- Update on RFS Volunteer abandoned
- Who is the RFS’s minister for free speech?
- Meet Gracie, the Flying Doctor Guide Dog
- Fire and the Eucalypt
- Beyond our Patches – Interagency Cohesion
- Goin’ Bush
- Never Seen The Outback Like This
- Shoalhaven, NSW (Visitor guide)
- The Red Heart’s Hidden Secrets
- House fire at Spencer
- Welcome to Spencer
- 70 Years of Land Rover
- NSW State Election
- Mental Health of Volunteers
- NSW Farmers: Bush Fire Management, A whole community responsibility
- Angel Flight
- The Phantom Says’
- VFFA Membership Form
2018 Summer
Volume 10 No 2:
- President’s Report
- Why would anyone join the RFS?
- Ootha NSW
- Dubbo… simply the place to be
- Naradhan gets a visit from Corrimal Rotary Club
- Goin’ Bush
- How is your prostate?
- 70 Years of Land Rover – Cooma 2018
- Discover your undiscovered in the Queanbeyan-Palerang Region
- Outback Radio 2WEB – 40 Years of Service
- 4WD ACT / NSW
- Pat Callinans 4×4 Article: Smartphone Photography
- Community Expectations
- Welcome to the NSW Rural Fire Service
- Shooters, Fishers & Farmers
- Yankee’s Gap Fire
- NSW Farmers
- Angel Flight
- The Phantom Says’
- VFFA Membership Form
2018 Winter
Volume 10 No 1:
- President’s Report
- Tathra – Bushfire lessons learnt
- NSW Farmers Association – Bushfires and Mental Health
- Minister, your chickens have come home to roost!
- Bargo gets a new station at last!
- Vale – Ken Lucas
- RFS Head Office – The Big Move West is on
- Goin’ Bush
- From the fire ground and Durran Durra
- Welcome to Cooma: Capital of the snowy mountains
- Come visit Australia’s Alpine Playground
- Aus Explorer – Charles Sturt: In search of a chimera
- 21 is not enough
- Vale – Jack Mullins
- Angel Flight wins I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here 2018
- John Hojel, Thank you
- Vale – Chris Nesbitt
- Said Hanrahan
- After the flames have gone out
- The Phantom Says’
- How low can they go
- VFFA Membership Form
2017 Summer
Volume 9 No 2:
- President’s Report
- VFFA goes to Henty Machinery Field Day 2017
- Petition | Ben Shields – Mayor Dubbo Regional Council
- NSW Farmers Association
- A Story of a Really Top Bloke
- Naradhan gets a new Fire Station
- Angel Flight helping another Australian Family
- Glossodia Rural Fire Brigade – Graeme Jay – Life Membership
- Goin’ Bush – Sand Driving and Summer Fun
- Dubbo NSW – A Vibrant Regional City
- Touring Technique – Recovery Points
- Touring Technique – Winch Maintenance
- The Curious Story of Rudolf Diesel
- Mortimer’s of Orange Wines
- Is Four Wheel Driving in Africa as good as it is in Australia?
- Protect Yourself from Vexatious Allegations
- HR @ Kurrajong Heights
- A Discussion About Some Concepts to Make Wildland Firefighting “Safer”
- Remember When We Were Managed by Local Councils
- The Phantom Says’
- Weeds in the System
- What Sort of Message are we Sending to the Public?
- VFFA Membership Form
2017 Winter
Volume 9 No 1:
- President’s Report
- Sir Ivan Fire
- NSW Farmers Association
- Congratulations Greg Green
- Potato Point Remains at Great Risk
- Does the RFS Value its Volunteers as Customers?
- Federal Coalition begins Decentralisation Process
- Upside Down Country and the Problem with the RFS
- Angel Flights Jarrod Roesler
- Goin’ Bush
- The Original Adventure Seekers
- Winter Driving Tips
- Town in Feature – Forbes NSW
- Tablets – Take Two and Call Me in the Morning!
- Touring Technique – Soldering and Crimping
- Australian Explorer – Soldier of Fortune
- Project 130 – Weight Matters
- Protecting my 4WD Assets
- Live and Learn – The Psychology of Survival
- The Fire Fighter
- Inherently Safe System
- 2016 Fall Fires in the Appalachian Mountains
- The Phantom Says’
- Fire Service Danger Meter
- VFFA Membership Form
2016 Summer
Volume 8 No 2:
- President’s Report
- A Week is Certainly a Long Time in Politics!
- The Orange Bi-Election – Shooters, Fishers & Farmers
- Adaminaby RFS’s Bill Mansfield
- NSW Farmers Association
- Tumble Down Dick RFB
- Fire & Rescue NSW Commissioner Retires
- Angel Flight
- Goin’ Bush 4WD Training – Do you need it?
- Wedge-tailed Eagle
- Town in Feature – Cowra
- How many of you have a love for and play a Guitar?
- The Simpson Desert like a few have ever seen
- Yamaha Jet Trekkers Raise Over $140k for Children in Need
- Easy Beef Stroganoff
- How to Read a Tyre Sidewall
- Consultation Draft
- Fire in 1788
- On the Receiving End
- Leadership – Your Decisions make all the Difference
- Lessons from History: Monkey-Eaters in the Scrub
- Discrimination & Favouritism in the RFS
- Health and Safety Representatives (HSR) – A proactive approach to safety
- The Phantom Says’
2016 Winter
Volume 8 No 1:
- From the President’s Desk
- Yes Minister
- Responses from the Coonabarabran Community
- NSW Farmers Association
- Burning Questions for Potato Point
- Trundle ABBA Festival
- Decentralisation
- Guy Zangari Member for Fairfield
- Why the NSW Rural Fire Service Should Relocate to Parkes
- Goin’ Bush
- Using a Snatch Strap Safely
- Great Family Fishing Trips
- In the Footsteps of Burke & Wills
- GPS reception not what it should be?
- The Compass Termite
- VFFA proudly supporting Angel Flight
- Blazeaid – Simply Incredible People
- The Growth of the RFS Bureaucracy
- Snowy Mountains Horse Riders Association (SMHRA)
- The Tasmanian Fires of 2016
- Angel Flight
- RFDS – Nightmare bite ends in flight
- The Phantom Speaks Out
2015 Summer
Volume 7 No 2:
- From the President’s Desk
- President’s Profile
- Almost 3 Years since Wambelong
- Fire Trails
- NSW Farmers Association
- Peter J. Cannon OAM
- Glossodia RFS’s Parmenter Family & their Supporting of Bear Cottage
- Angel Flight
- Taking a look at Bargo RFS
- Goin’ Bush
- Off Road Leisure – NSW Outback Town of Bourke
- With thanks to our NSW Ambo’s
- Winching Safely
- Travelling the Outback – Summer 2015
- Book Review
- UAV Hobbyist and Wildfires
- Megafires, Paramilitaries and Global Warming Enthusiasts
- So, Marine Rescue NSW…who are they?
- Drones and Small Remote Brigades
- Workplace Injury
- Fire from the Sky
- Early Days of Aerial Burning
- The Phantom Speaks Out
2015 Winter
Volume 7 No 1:
- Photo Competition
- NSW Storms – April 2015
- ANZAC Day and RFS Volunteers
- Peter J. Cannon OAM
- St. Albans Rural Fire Brigade
- Wambelong Fire Enquiry Update
- Restore Bushfire Security to Our Vulnerable Community
- Vale – Lawrence David Norton
- RFS – New Isuzu Category 1 Tanker
- Belowra Continues the Bush Fire Brigade Tradition
- High Fire Field Day
- New Station for Tinpot Brigade
- The People of Clare Ask – Can Anyone Hear Us?
- Decentralisation of NSW Rural Fire Service
- Fire Experts with a Common Objective
- Oh, When Will They Ever Learn?
- The Phantom Speaks Out
2014 Summer
Volume 6 No 2:
- Photo Competition
- We want our Blue Shirts back, is this too much to ask?
- The Benefits of a CFU
- In 1985 we had 600m, but National Parks won’t give an inch today!
- Long Service Awards presented at the 85 Year Reunion of Naradhan RFS
- Base Camp…or the Sheraton?
- Waratah Brigade gets a Brand New Isuzu Grasslands Tanker
- Farm Fire Management Suggestions and Fire Service Issues
- Country Women’s Association NSW
- Meet the new NSW Deputy Premier
- NSW Volunteer Rescue Association Inc.
- BlazeAid.com
- Pioneer Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for 2014 Wildfires
- Remembering Bushfires
- The Path of Natural Justice
- Brigade Camaraderie, The True Spirit of the RFS
- The Phantom Speaks Out
- The Alarming Truth
2014 Winter
Volume 6 No 1:
- Eighteen Months on from the Disastrous Wambelong Fire around Coonabarabran
- The Williamtown Meeting
- BlazeAid
- Brigade in Focus
- The Firefighters Pocket Book
- The Impact of Climate Change on the Way We Build
- Victorian Fire Politics
- A Tale of Two Bushfires in the Outer-Suburbs of Perth
- Work Health and Safety – Bullying in the Workplace
- Fire Fighter Rescue
- Have You Experienced a Major Fire Event?
2013 Summer
Volume 5 No 2:
- Southern Highlands October 2013 | Weatherzone joins up with VFFA
- VFFA Region South
- Lithgow and the Hawkesbury Fires
- Summer Wildfires…What are we doing?
- Death by Fire and Culpable Neglect
- Coonabarabran / Warrumbungles
- Thanks to our NSW Ambos
- Coonabarabran – Vale Valentino
- West Pittwater runs a BF Course
- Can Australian and US Smoke Alarm Standards be Trusted? Part 2
- Boxes for BlazeAid’s Star Picket Drivers
- The Burning Issue
- The Phantom Speaks Out Awards
- Work Health & Safety
- Rural Fires Act & Government Laws Restrict Property Protection
- Fire Risk Management Model – The Canobolas Model
- Benefits of a Bushfire Community Protection Plan (CPP) for Nerrigundah
- The Worsening Victorian Fire Risk in the Mountains
- Fuel Reduction Burns in Victoria
- Alan Grant McArthur – the founder of Australian Bush Fire Science
- Mussel a Fire Fighters Friend
2013 Winter
Volume 5 No 1:
- Why I Support the VFFA
- Coonabarabran Fires 2013
- A Disaster Waiting to Happen
- Dear Commissioner, Why Not Use Local Knowledge?
- Photo Gallery – Mt Forest Yarrabin Fire 2013
- A Tough Day at Tarcutta
- Structure and Rating of Forest Fuels
- Canobolas Model – Where is it?
- Attitudes to Fire and the Environment
- Bushfire Myths
- A Tale of Two Deployments
- Photo Gallery – West Head Fire 2013
- Recruitment and Retention – No Simple Answers
- Frustrations of Dealing with a Modern Day RFS
- RFS Volunteer Fire Fighter Discipline Procedures in need of Reform
- Macalister Flood Risk
- The Truth About the Proposed Emergency Services Levy
- Ashes of the Fire Fighters
- Historical Hand Pump
- The Phantom Speaks Out
- State Mitigation Support System
- The Changing Relationship of NSW Local Government and the RFS
- NSW Farmers and Bushfire Matters
- Smoke Alarms Testing Standards Under Fire
2012 Summer
Volume 4 No 2:
- Wallaga Lake Community Fire Unit
- Fuel Moisture
- Volunteers give Julie a Fitting Farewell
- The Berridale Bush Fire Brigade
- The Victoria Fire Risk in the Mountains
- There are Funds Available Out There
- Review of the Emergency Services Levy
- Emergency Services Levy
- WA Emergency Services Levy
- A Story about “The Gorge”
- World Fire Safety Foundation
- VFFA Smoke Alarm Warning
- Volunteer Rural Fire-fighter Recruitment & Retention
- NowForce Made for Urban Centred and Rural Emergency Services
- Grass Fire at Mushroom Farm
- Captain’s Report and Brigade History
- VFFA Relief Fund Proposal
- Photo Gallery
- Fire Fighting Yesteryear
- NSW Board of Fire Commissioners Treaty
- Burn Off Brigade
- Firefighting in the USA
- Living Beside a National Park
- Wildfire Education and Experience – NAPA – Our US Experience
- NSW Farmers and Bushfire Matters
2012 Winter
Volume 4 No 1:
- Independent Hazard Reduction Audit Panel
- Denis McIntyre
- Alan Brown
- Estimating Wind Speed
- National Corridors Plan Concern
- The NAPA Pilot Proposal
- Volunteer Rural Fire-Fighters Could Face Prosecution under New National Safety Laws
- RFS Library
- Challenge Testing – Recognised Prior Learning
- BAL Compliance, ‘to Seal or not to Seal’ that’s the Question
- Encouraging our Volunteers
- Fire Tragedy in the Blue Mountains
- NSW Farmers and Bushfire Matters
- Photo Galler
- The Good Ol’ Days
- The Gravy Train
- Vale – Dennis Joiner
2011 Summer
Volume 3 No 2:
- Kurrajong Heights Brigade’s Submission Regarding the Proposed RFS Cad-Based Callout System
- BFCC & RFSAC
- Volunteer Representation NSW RFS Reform Paper
- Blue Mountains Achilles Heel
- Volunteer Fire Fighters and Injury Compensation
- Brigade Websites
- The RFS Radio Network as seen by a Volunteer
- Reality Check, from a Grumpy Old Bush Firefighter
- After the Flames and Fury – Impressions of Change
- When NSW is in a State of Financial Uncertainty…yet more Greed
- State Mitigation Support Service (SMSS)
- Photo Gallery | Mosaic Zoning Approach to Hazard Reduction
- Fire Trucks
- Newell Highway Hazard Reduction Burns
- Rail Line Burn – Mickibri
- A More Efficient and Effective RFS Operational Structure
- Subsidy for the Retrofitting of Bushfire Protection Measures to Older Dwellings in High Risk Bushfire Zones
- Ionization Smoke Alarms are Deadly
- Bush Fire at The Dish – 1 December 2004
- The Canobalas Bush Fire Model
- Values
- Book Review
2011 Winter
Volume 3 No 1:
- How can we Protect Residents from Bushfires?
- The VFFA Welcomes New NSW Police & Emergency Services Minister Mr Michael Gallacher
- Volunteers and Occupational Health and Safety
- Car Fires – The Hidden Dangers
- RFS Volunteer Fire Fighter Discipline Procedures in Need of Reform
- The Combo Con
- State Mitigation Team
- Decentralisation – It’s Time!
- RFS to Pay $6 Million Tax Debt
- RFS uses Volunteer Funds to Pay the Fringe Benefits Tax incurred by Staff
- Shipley Re-instated
- Tropical Cyclone Yasi Clean-Up
- Fuel Loadings over Spring and Summer 2010/11
- Bargo Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade goes CABA
- Volunteer Firefighters Don’t Just Fight Fires
2010 Summer
Volume 2 No 2:
- Communications Gone out the Window
- Understanding Roles
- The Fire Shed Siren Rises from the Ashes
- Hon Melinda Pavey MLC
- Safety Fears Over New Fire Trucks
- Photo Gallery
- Self Employed Injured Fire Fighters’ Compensation
- The World Fire Safety Foundation
- Grose Head South Fire
- Catastrophe – Fuel Mitigation or More of the Same
- The Yellow T-Shirt
- Local Concerns But Who’s Listening
- NSW Volunteer Firefighters Demand an Increase in Hazard Reduction Burning
- Windellama Bushfire Brigade
- 2003 The Year That Fffffed Me About
- What’s in a Name?
- Using Headers during Harvest
- Did The Goal Posts Move Again?
2010 Winter
Volume 2 No 1:
- Victorian Fires 2009
- Active Fuel Management in National Parks
- Community Sees Danger in NSW Catastrophic Fire Ratings
- Hon Melinda Pavey MLC
- Workers Retreat Battle
- VFFA profile
- Black is all I See
- Commonwealth Senate Select Committee Inquiry
- Volunteer Fire Fighters want changes to Tax Laws to go Further
- Independent Bushfire Research Institute
- If It Ain’t Broke
- Fire Behaviour – Threshold Windspeed
- Let’s Move The Goal Posts – Again
- Photo Gallery
- Bushfire and Native Fauna Population