Former brigade captain Tom Kelly passed away in late October 2023. He had been ill for some time. The brigade extends condolences to his ‘No 1’ – wife Timmy – and to their children and grandchildren.
Tom and Tim have lived in Murrumbateman in recent years but they were living on Leary’s Lane when they attended their first brigade AGM in March 1989, where Tom was elected a deputy captain as well as equipment officer and training officer.
He went on to captain the brigade in 1991, 1992 and 1996. He also did stints as chairman and, in 2001 and 2002l, as president.
“Tom was a good, active captain who did a lot for the brigade,” says life member and former captain, Peter C.
Peter and Tom joined the brigade about the same time and went on to fight a lot of fires together, including two of the most serious fires in the brigade’s history: the 1991 Mt Ramsay fire and the Corrigans Rd fire in 1997.
Tom was first elected captain at the AGM a few days after the Mt Ramsay fire, a time when brigade members were still deeply shaken by the biggest fire they had experienced in their own district and emotions were still running high.
Just six years later, with memories of that fire still vivid, the fire that was to overtake it and become the largest local fire in the period – the Corrigans Rd fire – broke out 3 days before Christmas, at 2pm on an extreme fire danger day. Ian Oldfield was captain at the time.
When the call for that fire came through, Tom was at Peter’s place on Boutchers Drive, close to the eastern boundary of the brigade area. Corrigans Rd is to the northwest, in the Manton brigade area, on the other side of Yass River and west of the junction of Greenwood and Yass River roads (our brigade’s northwestern corner).
Tom and Peter went outside to look and were shocked at the amount of smoke they could see billowing into the sky. Although they were one of the first crews on the scene, the fire was already beyond being held in the conditions. It took three weeks before it was mopped up completely.
When Tom eventually became less involved in active firefighting, he often volunteered for the RFS as a smoke spotter from the Bowning Hill tower.
Tom’s funeral was a Catholic service held in the Uniting Church hall in Murrumbateman on November 2nd, 2023. Many RFS members, including former Yass River–Nanima president, Peter A and his wife Jan, were among the large crowd of mourners who spilled into the grounds outside the hall. Brigade and other RFS members provided a guard of honour.