THEY worked for more than 20 hours at a time, put themselves in danger trying to help others, and spent time away from their families, but firefighters battling the Black Summer bushfires just couldn't walk away.
More than 350 firefighters from Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) stations in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie areas have been recognised for their efforts in 2019 and 2020 with a National Emergency Medal.
Several firies from the Carrington brigade were honoured after they were deployed across the state as part of the emergency response to the catastrophe.
Among them was retained firefighter Joe Harding.
During a posting to the Taree area in November 2019, Mr Harding and his crew, led by captain Michael Woloschyn, found themselves working for more than 20 hours, fuelled by service station sandwiches and a 40-minute break, as a fire approached Old Bar.
"In the moment, you don't really think about how hard things actually are, you just have to do what you've been trained to do," Mr Harding said.
Mr Harding said even the road into the Taree area from Newcastle looked like the "highway to hell" under the dark sky and surrounded by charred landscape.
He said the crew was tasked to Wallabi Point during the shift, where they had to protect the new estate from flames taller than they were.
They worked with the Rural Fire Service (RFS) but were urgently calling for back-up, but resources were already stretched thin across the state.
"All we could do was set up and wait for the fire," Mr Harding said.
"It happened so quickly."
It was during these times that the firefighters rallied around each other to get through.
Amid that 24-hour stint, Captain Woloschyn's crew was called to Johns River after reports a house was burning and a person could be trapped.
Captain Woloschyn said there were trees burning and falling to the ground.
"We couldn't not go and check," he said.
"You're constantly thinking about safety ... but I think the end goal was that we couldn't leave somebody there if they were injured."
The woman was tragically killed in the blaze.
Captain Woloschyn said the RFS, FRNSW, community members and other agencies banded together to get through the Black Summer blazes.
"If everyone didn't pull together, it could have been a lot worse," he said.
The Carrington station alone responded to at least 20 call-outs to prolonged out-of-control fires during the 2019 and 2020 fire season.
Members were deployed on strike teams across NSW, including up to Tenterfield in the north and Goulburn in the south.
More than 80 Newcastle and Lake Macquarie FRNSW firefighters received their medals, and other awards, at a ceremony at Wallsend on Thursday night.
The evening was also about recognising the support of their families.
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