A group of Sydney volunteer firefighters got to enjoy a much-needed break over a homecooked meal courtesy of their local Sikh community, amid the battle to contain major bushfires this week.
Volunteers from the Hornsby Rural Fire Brigade had just finished containing a fire in South Turramurra on Sydney's North Shore on Tuesday afternoon when members of the Guru Nanak Gurudwara Turramurra Sikh Temple dropped by with food by way of a thank you.
"As the firefighting operations were drawing to a close at the Canoon RpadFire in South Turramurra, we were approached by members of the local Sikh community with donations of hot food for our firefighters," Captain Theo Klich told SBS News.
"They brought along two types of curry and water, and other residents also brought out water, juice and soft drinks."
Captain Klich said his crew were hugely grateful for the offering in the aftermath of a massive day of firefighting.
"After having an early lunch in preparation for a busy afternoon, they had worked hard and had built up a hunger," he said.
Members of the local Sikh community hand out home-cooked food to Hornsby's firefighters. Source: Josh Cahill
"They were grateful for the support of the local residents and community, and whilst morale was already high having successfully contained the fire, it was nice gesture on behalf of the community."
Tuesday saw fire danger reach catastrophic levels across NSW, with fires burning out-of-control in Turramurra, in Sydney's noth.
With no fires across the state remaining at "emergency level" as of Wedensday morning, Captain Klich said his crews were "feeling good" and were just "happy to contribute".
"As we are volunteers who do this in our time off, usually with the generous support of our employers and families, we have all gone back to our regular day jobs, time off, and are spending the time preparing fo rthe next set of deployments," he said.
"We are grateful for these acts of kindness, however we want to acknowledge that they are not expected, as we are happy to do the job that we are tasked to do without payment or reward."
