Eight firefighters from the City of Gosnells Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade received National Emergency Medals this week to acknowledge their support during the devastating 2019/20 bushfires in New South Wales.

The medals, approved by the Governor-General, are given to those who provide sustained or significant service during nationally-significant emergencies.

Mayor Terresa Lynes, who presented the medals with Department of Fire and Emergency Services Acting Superintendent Adrian Hamill, said the City of Gosnells was extremely proud of the local firefighters in the WA Taskforce deployed to assist their eastern states counterparts.

“These volunteers took time away from their homes, families and work, with some giving up income, to help communities in NSW,” she said.

“We all saw the news footage of those terrible fires, so we can only imagine how difficult the conditions were – and to go across the country to voluntarily fight fires certainly deserves national and local recognition.”

The National Emergency Medal recipients are Captain Allan Brown, Crew Leader William (Bill) Ellis, Lieutenants Aaron Naylor and Andrew MacKenzie, and Senior Firefighters Fred Sharp, Gareth Hemingway, Sean Brown and Andrew Aylesbury.

Mr Aylesbury and Mr Allan Brown were unable to attend the presentation, as they are currently on deployment in Carnarvon, and Mr Ellis is in Queensland.

City Councillors also attended the presentation to congratulate the recipients.