Pushing for progressive tactics

WITH a firefighting career spanning more than four decades, you could say being a firie is in Cape Clear brigade captain Michael Rowe’s blood.

Now, Captain Rowe has received the Australian Fire Service Medal as part of the 2023 Australia Day honour list.

Having been in a fire truck since he was a kid serving alongside his father at Clunes, Captain Rowe said putting on the helmet was a passing of the torch for him.

“He taught me heaps and I had great mentors as well that showed me through the ropes,” he said.

“Dad’s truck was the second in the town so it was only natural that I was in the truck before I was a teenager. I was 15 or a bit earlier when I signed up officially.

“Dad’s truck was a tray with a tank and a pump on it, no handles. You had to stand there and hope for the best.”

Much has changed for firefighters since Captain Rowe started, and his own contributions to the craft have led to him receiving the Australian Fire Service Medal.

After being with the Clunes Fire Brigade for the majority of the 1980s, Captain Rowe transitioned to the Cape Clear brigade in 1989 where he’s been ever since.

He said the move was a logical one due to his occupation in the area as a farmhand for Bill Callahan, founder of the Cape Clear Fire Brigade.

Captain Rowe has led the branch since 2010, and upon joining he introduced and developed roadside burning tactics adopted from the Clunes station, which involved greater emphasis on prior planning.

“We were the first brigade in Victoria to work under JobSafe accreditation and WorkSafe procedures,” Captain Rowe said.

His tactics were eventually detailed in the 2015 book The Art of Roadside Burning, after which he created the Women’s Burn Day in 2019.

Although “humbled” to receive the AFSM, Captain Rowe said he owes everything to the people around him.

“That’s what makes the difference. I couldn’t do what I do without the good people around me,” he said.

“I’ve seen better leaders than me, but they haven’t had good people around them like that. That’s what’s kept me driven and dedicated to this.”