• SAES teams on duty in SA
The Salvation Army Emergency Services (SAES) have been providing meals to first responders fighting fires in the lower Flinders Ranges, South Australia, over the past 10 days.
The SAES crews have served breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily to emergency services personnel battling scrub fires around Wilmington.
The SA Country Fire Service said the fires had burnt 3850 hectares of hard-to-access terrain. Bushfires in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges have destroyed 20 per cent of Mount Remarkable National Park so far and continue to burn.
“The deployment, which is in day 10, has only been able to occur because of the amazing volunteers that have given so much time and effort,” said Response Coordinator Major Reno Elms.
A fire fighter from the Willunga Brigade, Heath L'Estrange, was full of praise for The Salvation Army’s presence at Wilmington.
“As a CFS firefighter who was at Wilmington earlier this week, I really want to express my gratitude and admiration for what all of the Salvos are doing up there,” he said.
“All the Salvos I saw up there were run off their feet. They were working so hard, and likely not getting the gratitude that they deserve. I came home from Wilmington heavier than before I went up. The food was amazing, and you all seemed to care so much for our welfare. All that what you do doesn’t go unnoticed, and you guys are the cogs keeping it all going up there. I think you are all extraordinary people.”
