The man who organised the on-the-ground response to the 2003 Canberra bushfires has died a few days short of the 20th anniversary.
Tony Graham was the operations manager during the catastrophe.
He felt the later criticism of the overall response keenly, and was gratified in his last days to hear the ACT chief minister of the time, Jon Stanhope, talk about how staff did their very best in the most difficult situations.
According to Mr Graham's son, Mathew, his father worked 20-hour days during the fires around January 18, 2003, sleeping under his desk.
Mr Stanhope said of the staff on Monday: "Their reputations were traduced but they did their best."
Mr Graham's son said that the fires and the aftermath had a "deeply profound effect" on his father. "He took it to heart."
An official report on the fires did not blame individuals but did criticise inadequacies in the system. One of the results was the merger of different ACT firefighting organisations.
Mr Graham became the first head of the resulting ACT State Emergency Service.
He retired seven years ago after 11 years in the role.
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He was born in Melbourne and joined the navy, ending up in his final post in Canberra where he decided to stay.
He then joined the emergency services in 1989 as a volunteer and was instrumental in a number of major improvements to training, leadership, development of staff and volunteers, and community education.
He was appointed chief officer in 2004 when the ACT SES was formally established, and was awarded a 2015 Community Protection Medal.
The SES issued a statement on Mr Graham's death: "We wish to express our deepest condolences to the Graham family as we learn of the passing of Tony Graham ESM.
"Tony was a fantastic leader of the ACT State Emergency Service and a valued member of the Agency's executive leadership team.
"Tony was a positive and professional leader continually advocating for his volunteers and he will be truly missed by all. We will remember his service of 26 years with the ACT State Emergency Service, with 11 years as the Chief Officer. Our thoughts are with the Graham family at this time."
When he retired, the ACT's Minister for Police and Emergency Services paid tribute, saying he had demonstrated "a passion and commitment to serving the community through emergency services".
"Tony is highly respected by the volunteers and staff of the ACT SES, his ESA colleagues, the government and the wider ACT community," Joy Burch said.
"Tony has sacrificed much of his own time after hours to participate in volunteer activities and worked tirelessly to ensure that the capabilities of the ACT SES and its volunteers are well-known and promoted within the ACT's emergency service industry, as well as with other jurisdictions."
The funeral is to be held at Norwood Park Crematorium at 4.30pm on Friday, January 27.
