
In 2015 Warrnambool's Darren Shiell and Ian Westhorpe battled Canadian wildfires side-by-side - and now the pair have been awarded for their long-standing careers in emergency response.
They received the National Medal awarded to those who risked their safety assisting communities during emergencies and natural disasters for 15 or more years.
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Mr Westhorpe also received the National Emergency Medal for his role in the Black Saturday bushfires.
They were among 35 Forest Fire Management Victoria staff members to be honoured.

FFMVic deputy chief fire officer Andrew Morrow said both recipients had accomplished careers.
"I'm proud of the versatility of all our medal recipients - their ability to step out of their day jobs and into their emergency roles has provided vital protection to communities during fires, floods and other emergencies," he said. "This presentation has provided a great opportunity to celebrate the emergency management careers of our medal recipients, I thank them for their continued dedication and commitment."

IN OTHER NEWS:

DARREN SHIELL
Mr Shiell, a Parks Victoria Glenelg area chief ranger, has been involved in search and rescues, cyclones, floods and bushfires and has been deployed in Australia and overseas.
"It's been an amazing opportunity and privilege to work in all of these areas - in my day job I spend my time in national parks working with passionate community members and stakeholders," Mr Shiell said.
"Two days are never the same - there's always something different thrown at you that gives you a challenge On top of that is the emergency service response - unfortunately I've been involved in events where emergency personnel have lost their lives - been through good and pretty bad times."

Mr Shiell said he also enjoyed meeting people through his role and the networking opportunities. When at home in the south-west Mr Shiell works in the management of more than 100 parks and reserves. He has been in the role for 21 years.
Mr Shiell said the highlights through his role internationally were assisting in the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the 2015 Canadian wildfires and more locally, Cyclone Seroja at Kalbarri in Western Australia in 2021.
He, along with other Australian and international emergency personnel, were deployed to Christchurch to assist with search and rescue efforts. It was a week after the initial earthquake with aftershocks still happening.
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"I was in a building and it was the first time I had experienced an earthquake," he said. "The walls were shaking and the New Zealanders didn't bat an eyelid, but for the Australians, it was a new experience."
He was there for more than a month, citing working with a local family who he stayed with for several days during a break.
"That gave me the opportunity to reflect on the purpose of what we were there for - to help the community recover from a pretty big incident."
In 2015, he was stationed in Canada's British Columbia province for two months.
"It is one of the most bushfire prone areas in the world, just like Victoria," he said. "The incident management structure that we operate in Victoria, is replicated in places around the world like NZ and Canada so it was an easy transition."
He said with the bushfire season that year beginning earlier by the time they arrived many of the local teams were fatigued and worn out.
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"Canada has also assisted in Australia during busy periods so it was an honour to repay that debt in their time of need."
He said after a few days of induction at Vancouver the team was transferred to a remote area where one of their tasks was to set up camp.
"Rolling into an airfield location the grass was head-height and being in the middle of summer we didn't want the camp to catch fire so we mowed the grass before setting up our tents. We were working with local communities, getting to know the locals, fostering support and building trust so we were able to help them. Being Australians, it's within our nature to help in times of emergency, which resulted in good outcomes."
More recently, he said in April 2021, Cyclone Seroja hit the Western Australian town of Kalbarri unexpectedly.
"The cyclones in WA don't normally go that far south - the northern communities have a level of resilience but for Kalbarri, it was the first time the community was hit by a cyclone of this severity. The community, trees and buildings - nothing - was prepared for it. The trees and everything got decimated."
He said the Victorian team were sent there a week after the weather event. "The work was extensive with every roof, tree, fence, signposts being impacted. In some areas you couldn't tell where the street or road were because it was littered in debris."
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Mr Shiell said he couldn't do his job without the support of his family, friends and work colleagues.
"Like for any other emergency services worker I spend plenty of time away from home and that couldn't happen without the amazing support."
IAN WESTHORPE

Mr Westhorpe is a Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning senior forest and wildlife officer of 40 years - he has also worked as a firefighter that entire period. He will retire from the role in September. Mr Westhorpe said he was honoured to receive the medals.
"I'm extremely proud and it's a good way to get recognition for our crews - both the volunteers and paid firefighters.
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"The unsung heroes are the pilots - but they don't get the recognition as far as medals go."
In 1994, he became an air attack supervisor. The job plays a major role in saving people's lives and managing bushfires across the country. In 2009, he helped fight the Black Saturday fires in north Gippsland on the Monday after.
"It was pretty full on working there for a couple of weeks," he said. "Seeing the devastation in Marysville and other towns from the air was pretty sobering."
Another highlight in his career was the trip to Canada in 2015, where he was one of a 100-strong Australian team. Along with Mr Shiell, he was based in a community called Boston Bar for five weeks.
"We managed a fire there that had been burning for several weeks," he said. "It was quite daunting because we'd never worked there before and it was quite mountainous country, but it was an amazing experience working with the Canadian fire crews who were fantastic to work with."
He said the fire season in Canada started earlier that year due to following on from a drought. "It was early in the season and they didn't get the amount of snow they usually do in winter."
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Mr Westhorpe plans to spend his retirement helping his partner, Mandy Watson out around the house and in her research on southern right whales. "Another big career highlight is helping Mandy pull together the large whale disentanglement teams and in training."
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Lillian Altman
Lillian is an experienced journalist who joined Warrnambool Standard in late 2021. She has a particular interest in writing stories on the arts and culture, health, education, breaking news, police stories, as well as human interest and profiles.
Lillian is an experienced journalist who joined Warrnambool Standard in late 2021. She has a particular interest in writing stories on the arts and culture, health, education, breaking news, police stories, as well as human interest and profiles.