Mr Parker signed up to the CFA at Torquay when he was 16 and, at 71, is still deputy group officer at Mortlake.

His 55 years of service to the CFA was awarded at the Spirit of CFA Awards, one of four accolades picked up by volunteers in the south-west region. 

Mr Parker said times had changed since the days of simply jumping on the back of a fire truck when a blaze broke out. He said Ash Wednesday in 1983 brought in a new era of professionalism that was worlds away from when he started in the 1960s.

“Our equipment is better, our management systems are better and our training is better,” he said.

“When I started we just jumped on the back of a truck and we’d squirt water on the fire. We weren’t allowed to wear shorts but we didn’t have much protective clothing; now we’ve got all the gear and facilities and you don’t get on the truck until you’ve got a thorough knowledge of fire behaviour.”

“It’s not just putting the wet stuff on the red stuff; it’s about where the water goes and how it’s applied,” he said.  “You put out a fire with good management.”

Mr Parker doesn’t actively fight fires anymore, but on St Patrick’s Day he was there all night manning the local command, ensuring equipment and firefighters were going where they were needed.

“It was a fantastic result,” he said. “Everyone did a massive amount of work to save property and houses. We talk about the houses that were lost but we should also look at the property and houses we saved and there were no lives lost.”

He said Ash Wednesday remained the most devastating fire of his time in the CFA, and also the one that prompted the most change.

“Everyone was squirting water but there was no co-ordination,” he said. “After Ash Wednesday we brought in a coordinated approach for fighting fires which I totally embrace.”

Joining the CFA was an “accepted progression” when Mr Parker was young. “If you’re on the land you’d join the fire brigade to look after yourself and your neighbours and the community. My father was a member and we had our own fire truck unit on the farm.”

Mr Parker and his wife Jill moved to Mortlake in 1973 and became active in the Mortlake Rural Fire Brigade, as well as further contributing to the CFA and Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria.

“The first person I saw when we arrived at Mortlake was a neighbour and he wanted to know if I was in the fire brigade. Within a week we had a radio inside the house,” Mr Parker said.

Mrs Parker has more than 40 years volunteer service with the CFA, including time as a VFBV board member. 

Mr Parker has been lieutenant and captain of the brigade, group officer and is currently deputy group officer for the Mortlake group. He has attended incidents locally, statewide and interstate.

Hamilton brigade’s Susan Little took home the very first Living the Values Award at the CFA awards. She is a junior brigade leader, social club secretary.