One of the Rural Fire Service Canobolas Zone's longest-serving members was awarded with the state's top firefighting honour as part of Queen's Birthday awards on Monday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Geoff Selwood said he was "chuffed" to have been awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal, which recognises distinguished service by members of Australian fire services.
Mr Selwood has been with the RFS since he joined the Springside brigade in 1968, and has been group captain of the Orange district since 1995.
Nominees are put forward by their peers, which is the part of the achievement Mr Selwood is most appreciative of.
We don't do it for the awards and accolades, we just do it for the general public.
- Rural Fire Service captain Geoff Selwood
"We don't do it for the awards and accolades, we just do it for the general public," he said.
"But to have people nominate me was fantastic, not something I expected and I was really, really chuffed."
"I've known for a couple of months but the most important thing is my colleagues put it up."
He's been inundated with messages over Facebook and email since it was announced, and was a little bit overwhelmed.
While Mr Selwood said he didn't think he would have been first in line for an award, he said the person who "probably should have got it" was his wife, Lyn.
"For 50 years she's been putting up with me saying 'put the kettle on, it'll be a quick one' and having me call two hours later saying 'actually dear there's been a fatal and we'll be tied up for another few hours'," he said.
He'll head to Sydney in the coming months to receive the award from RFS top brass alongside the seven others who were also recipients of the award.
The panel which handed out the award said Mr Selwood was "passionate about community education" and pointed to his long CV of firefighting in the region.
"He holds an impressive list of fire related qualifications and willingly imparts his extensive knowledge to all members through training and at incidents and is in the process of establishing a communications unit for the Canobolas Zone," the panel said.
"Mr Selwood has also extended his knowledge of traditional burning, touring the Cape York area with local Indigenous people to learn more about this method of fire suppression and containment."
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...