John Crittenden was 26 years old when he was recruited to join Jerilderie’s town fire brigade.
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He had already supported the service for a number of years, with a number of his staff at Jerilderie Motors being members of the brigade.
So when the brigade’s captain Col Nelson came calling on him to also volunteer, he did not hesitate.
Mr Crittenden gave the service more than 49 years of his time before hanging up his fire helmet earlier this month.
Retiring as captain, the top job has now been passed to Andrew Bell.
“I officially became a firefighter on April 1, 1976, but I had been training for 12 months before that,” he said.
“It was a little different in those days.
“We only had the odd chimney fire, and we spent a fair bit of time at the station playing table tennis,” he laughed.
“Since then we’ve developed into Fire + Rescue, and a primary rescue station.
“All our members are rescue accredited and we’re sent all over the district to attend rescue situations and car crashes.
“We do nearly everything; the service’s motto is ‘we’re ready for anything’.”
Mr Crittenden has spent the last 10 years as captain of the Jerilderie brigade, and was deputy captain for five years before that.
He said he’s seen a few captains come and go in his time as a firefighter.
He’s also had son Ignatius follow his footsteps, with marching together on Anzac Day in fire uniforms a particular source of pride.
“I will miss it; the camaraderie and bounding off each other,” Mr Crittenden said.
“But I won’t miss the calls in the middle of the night.”
As well as protecting the Jerilderie community, Mr Crittenden has been sent to other areas of Australia to assist when big blazes have broken out.
He said there are a few major events that stick out in his mind, with one weekend in 1994 a particularly tough one for many of the Jerilderie crew.
“There was a two car crash in Jerilderie in which four people were killed on the Friday, and that same night the fire commissioner was on national television saying if they only lost 2000 homes in Sydney the same weekend they would be lucky.
“So after dealing with the fatality on Friday many of us headed to Sydney the very next day to help.
“It was early January and it frightened the lot of us - very few people had seen a fire like it.
“We spent all weekend rotating on and off, and had to catch the bus back because we left the fire trucks behind.
“We returned on the Monday and went straight back to work.”
Mr Crittenden also answered the call for extra assistance during the Black Saturday bush fires in Victoria in 2009, and another that stands out for him is the 2020/2021 bush fires which ravaged large parts of Australia.
“In regards to Black Saturday, I went with the Jerilderie crew which left on the Sunday,” he said.
“We took the Jerilderie truck down, and it was a case of following the bulldozer into places so that we could help.”
The fire service has had a number of name changes in Mr Crittenden’s time, before landing on Fire + Rescue NSW.
He said there’s also been some major changes in the way firefighters do their jobs, particularly in the technology sphere.
“We had few communications devices when I first started.
“The jobs would come in on a printer and an alert would be sent to pagers.
“Now we have alerts to pagers and our phone, and the turnout system is all processed at the radio centre.
“We’ve also now got satellite phones, and all sorts of things buzzing and chirping.
“We also now have location beacons on the trucks in case we get lost.
“The gear is all really excellent now, and the training is really good too. A lot of it is still done in Sydney, but we have other training centres around the state now, including Deniliquin which is far better than having to travel all that way.”
Despite the challenges, Mr Crittenden said he has enjoyed his time as a firefighter and giving back to the community.
“It’s been a really good experience, and I feel the brigade has a lot to offer young people.
“Fire + Rescue is calling out for firefighters for all brigades around the state.
“At Jerilderie we’re slowly building up our team, but we always need more - including someone to replace me now.
“The last 48 years have really gone in a flash, and I firmly believe it is all your experiences that define you.”
Now he has retired as a firefighter, Mr Crittenden’s plan is to also give up his ‘day job’.
Previously a motor mechanic for 40 years, he’s currently running Crittenden Heating & Cooling but will be looking to transition to full retirement in the near future.
Senior journalist