The children of the Carlisle River Fire Brigade Captain have left their mark on the local community this fire season, putting together care packages for those who needed it most.
When the Carlisle River and Kennedy Creek fires kicked off on 9 January in the Great Otway National Park, the threat to surrounding residents was far-reaching and prolonged, with final containment not until 1 February.
Carlisle River Fire Brigade 1st Lieutenant Krystal May, and husband Captain Rob May spent the month of January juggling jumping on the truck to assist with the fire response, looking after the safety of their kids and fielding concerns of their own house being impacted.
"It was very hectic, and I found when I was on the fire truck fighting the fire, I was doing what I needed to do, but then I had that sense of guilt that I wasn't there for the community elsewhere," Krystal said.
"Then vice versa, when I was helping the community, I felt guilty that I wasn't fighting the fire. So, wearing those two hats between Lieutenant and community safety I found difficult at times."
When off the truck, it didn't take long for community-minded Krystal to get in contact with the Salvation Army to try and replenish items locals were needing during their recovery efforts.
"They delivered a van load of essential items twice to the Carlisle River Hall – from shampoo and conditioner to a whole heap of food, non-perishables, soaps, and toilet paper," Krystal said.
"It was everything our community members couldn't access at the time. A lot of them were also too scared to try to get out, because you had to go through Gellibrand or Simpson."
From there, two of their children, 8-year-old Sasha and 12-year-old Dexter took it upon themselves to dive in and help Krystal and Rob package and distribute the much-needed items.
"They said to me, we are coming and we are helping. They were just beautiful. They came down multiple times a day and just wanted to be down there helping people," Krystal said.
"They did such a fantastic job. They even named each care package and made sure everything was stocked. We were getting people to meet us at the hall to get what they needed too.
"We enlisted the role of the Captain, being dad, and once the kids had put them together, Rob would go out and deliver them.
"They found it very rewarding, and both have such a helping spirit, it wouldn't surprise me if they do become firefighters in years to come or embed themselves in the community in another way.
"Sasha has already announced she will the Captain in the future, Rob needs to look out!"
Krystal said while the month was challenging and devastating, it brought a lot of people together who may not have crossed paths before, and the notion of helping others was widespread.
"Everyone was very thankful for the care packages, and a few people were a bit shy to come down and grab one because they thought there were others who needed it more," Krystal said.
"But they'd often get picked up on the way by someone else, even if it was just toilet paper that they needed. It was wonderful to see the community come together."
