John Damian Taylor Ex Captain – Acheron RFB

A eulogy from Bob Potts, Country Fire Authority Regional Operations Manager at John Taylor's funeral.

I wish to thank Group Officer Peter Rice and other members of the Acheron Fire Brigade for their assistance in compiling the information for this eulogy.

Ex Captain John Damian Taylor joined the Acheron Fire Brigade on the 14th November 1986 soon after he and his family moved to the area.

If John took on a job he always did it well – after 5 months in the brigade he decided he needed to broaden his knowledge of firefighting and went and joined Alexandra Urban Brigade for a period of about 7 months. This provided him with the knowledge and experience to further enhance his position within the Acheron brigade.

By 1990 John was recognised by his peers as a potential leader of the brigade and was elected to the management team as Apparatus Officer.

This was the start of a succession of roles and responsibilities that John undertook over the last 15 years within the Acheron Brigade;

Apparatus Officer 1990 - 1992

1st Lieutenant 1992 - 1995

Secretary 1992 - 1995

Captain 1995 - 1999

2nd Lieutenant 2001 - 2002

Captain 2002 - 2004 (resigned)

John’s leadership and determination was instrumental in maintaining a Brigade at Acheron around 1995 and 2002 as the brigade was down in numbers and the Authority was considering closing down the brigade. John had a great ability to encourage new members to join and then tutor them for management roles in the brigade.

John was always a popular and inspiring leader at Acheron and was not afraid to initiate new ideas. Training was always an arduous task but he excelled in encouraging members to attend. I guess his background as a teacher paid dividends in this area. His motivation, patience and persistence earned him the respect of all.

As a leader John knew that he had to inspire by example and as such attended all the courses necessary to enable him to carry out his role as a volunteer firefighter;

• Off Road & On Road Driver Training (Puckapunyal)

• Minimum Skills Wildfire

• Crew Leadership Course

• Incident Management

John was also a member of the Group Training Committee involving himself in organising and conducting training sessions for other brigades at Group exercises. This he did well and made training a pleasant task for all.

John was one of the first volunteers in the Region to attend and successfully complete a Strike Team Leaders course. This qualified him to lead a strike team of 5 tankers and 28 firefighters to fires anywhere in the State. This was the competence of the man we all knew.

His competence on the fire ground was excellent and made himself available to fight fires anywhere. These included the major campaign fires in NSW, Strathbogie Ranges, the Northeast fires in 2003 and many other fires in and around the district.

Attempts were often made by Group Officer Peter Rice and his management team to involve John in Fire Command and Control at Group level, as he was well suited for this role. Although he did assist at times, even last summer during his illness, John always felt that his main priority was to the Acheron Brigade and community.

When discussing John’s history with Peter Rice he reminded me of the time John was overseas on teacher exchange duties and still knew what was going on in the brigade and what was happening with regard to fires around the district. He kept abreast of everything with email and the internet.

John was also a qualified commercial pilot and often did part time work for the DSE. This work involved fire spotting and reconnaissance based out of Traralgon. There was certainly more to John than we all knew.

He was not a man to brag about his talents or attributes, he got on with the job, loved what he was doing, and was committed to his community. When meeting and talking with John you always respected his thoughts and ideas as you knew he had always thought hard and long before putting them to you, and in most cases he was right. More importantly you needed to have your own facts right as he would certainly take you to task if you were wrong. I have had that privilege at many a meeting.

When John’s time came to resign as Captain due to his illness, his phone call to Group Officer Peter Rice was one of regret. I guess he thought he was letting the brigade and Group down but his health and remaining time with his family was a higher priority.

The Country Fire Authority, the community of Acheron and the Acheron Fire Brigade are certainly privileged for knowing and working with John Damian Taylor.

Our condolences go out to Helen, Emma and Laura, and we thank you for supporting John in his role as a firefighter and leader of the Acheron Fire Brigade.