They are the First Nations women blazing a trail in the way emergency services fight fires.
More than a year on from the bushfires that burnt through half of heritage-listed K'gari (Fraser Island), the efforts of a group of Butchulla woman are earning traditional owners a seat at the table when fire and emergency is discussed.
Director of the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation Rachel Killer said when K'gari was alight in 2020, the Butchulla women sprang into action.
From holding a hose to manipulating natural waterways, the Butchulla women's knowledge of country provided an unmatched perspective to saving the land.
"Our animal welfare teams went to do welfare checks to see if there were any stranded or injured animals in fire scarred areas," Ms Killer said.
"We had our firefighters who were actually on the ground at the fire front. We also represented on the IMT [Incident Management Team] for a time."
Experience on the ground
Ms Killer said the women slotted into any role required to help combat the blaze.
"We also had ancillary crews: they covered general duties like visitor management and cleaning amenities while [Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service] QPWS officers were out on the fire ground," she said.
"We had our office staff here on the mainland organising accommodation, travel, ensuring that we had enough vehicles. There were a lot of roles."
Ms Killer said the women worked hard to be included in fire management discussions.
"We ardently fought for the right to reserve a seat as a part of the [Incident Management Team] IMT," Ms Killer said.
'Understanding the environment'
The First Nations perspective was one that Queensland's Inspector-General of emergency management Alistair Dawson said should be increasingly considered by first responders.
"It is extremely valuable. It's about creating another level of understanding about the environment on which everyone is operating," Mr Dawson said.
"But that ability for crews to understand those significant cultural points or having people there to help decisions around how we're going to respond to what's happening in front of us, is absolutely critical."
Mr Dawson said it was a step forward in the disaster management space.
"People who are involved in disaster management constantly strive for improvement in all levels, and one of the ways we can achieve that is to make sure that we engage with everybody that has ownership or interest," he said.
Just the beginning
The Inspector-General recognised the group of women for being 'Champions of Change' in the fire management and planning space.
But Butchulla woman Chantel Van Wamelen said it was a matter of honouring their oldest law.
"We honoured old people, our elders, and our Butchulla people in our community by being there and fighting that wildfire while protecting our cultural heritage at that time."
Matilda Davis said it was empowering to see her Butchulla matriarchs recognised.
"Highlighting and centring cultural custodianship and cultural fire management in caring for country and the conservation for country is really important," Ms Davis said.
Now they have their seat at the table, Ms Killer said the Butchulla women planned on keeping it.
"We need to bring the goods, we need to walk our talk, and we need to make sure we have our people trained for various roles within the IMT, whether it is as a cultural heritage liaison, or whether that be as a fire crew leader," Ms Killer said.
"Myself and Chantel have gone on to do additional training in the Incident Control Centre space with QFES (Queensland Fire and Emergency Services), so we are building our capacity to be able to keep going forward and responding in any emergency response, not just fire response."
