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It’s no secret that teamwork is a crucial element of being an aviation rescue fire fighter.
Like any emergency response role, the need for solidarity, trust and high morale is key and, sometimes, it might be the only thing that gets you through a job.
For Dan Morris – a Lead Aviation Fire Fighter with Airservices Australia's Brisbane Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) service – that camaraderie is one of the reasons why he loves his job so much.
He finds it’s not just important when he’s in action, but also in the simple moments, like getting through the 24-hour shifts together.
Dan – who has been an aviation rescue fire fighter for eight years – moved to Queensland in 2024 after transferring over from Western Australia.
And in that time since, he has found himself a nice little home at the Brisbane ARFF Station, based at Brisbane Airport.
“Teamwork is an important role in what we do in emergency services,” Dan said.
“Being able to trust your fellow team member and the crew to get the job done is very important.
“We do a 24-hour roster here. We work for 24 hours, have 24 hours off, work another 24 hours and then have five days off.
“It seems like a long time for a lot of people but we manage that with doing training, responding to jobs… we have a gym, we’ll do cook ups with the whole crew, we have a pool table, basketball… we just make our day go like that.
“It makes it handy to have people who are good cooks or people to get in and do gym sessions with. We’ll do a group training session in the gym and that obviously helps with the teamwork and getting everyone together.”
With Dan’s personal role in the Brisbane ARFF team, he tries to keep things light-hearted and good-natured – and he’ll never shy away from a travel conversation.
“I would like to think that I’m quite jovial,” Dan said of what he brings to the team.
“I’m also well-travelled so I’m able to answer questions and give people tips and pointers on their next destination.”
A father-of- three, Dan said his main motivation to get through each shift was the opportunity to spend more time with his family and to see the world.
For an aviation rescue fire fighter, a “typical day” can be hard to come across.
While there are general tasks that repeat daily, including truck inspections and monitoring of the fire alarms, the overall responsibilities can vary.
Dan said aviation fire fighters can also be involved in first aid or assisting in vehicle accidents around the precinct – basically anything to do with airport safety.
“I like the challenges that this job has,” Dan said.
“There’s the camaraderie, the teamwork that is involved in this job and the stability that the job gives you.
“But the main things are just each day is completely different. You don’t know what you’re going to get in emergency services.
“Recently we had a flight returning from Darwin. It landed and had some hot brake issues. As it was coming to the bay, the air would cool it down but when it got to the bay, the tyre ignited.
“We responded with all our trucks and we were able to get the fire out and 180-plus people were able to evacuate off the plane.
“That was a good result and quite exciting for the whole crew to go to an aviation incident on the aerodrome.”
For Dan, it’s the moments after these types of incidents, the “peace of mind” that the fire fighters receive, that make it all worth it.
He said that’s the most rewarding part, is knowing you’ve made an impact for at least one person.
“A lot of people get ill on a flight so we’ll turn out, go on the plane and get the people off the plane – their partners will thank us, the flight attendants will thank us for helping... To get thanked for doing what you do is quite a rewarding thing to happen,” he said.
“It’s really nice.
“To tell people you’re a fire fighter, it’s quite rewarding and I’m proud to be able to say that.
Airservices Australia is the nation’s air navigation service provider (ANSP).
An Australian Government-owned organisation, Airservices is responsible for safely and efficiently managing air traffic in 11 per cent of the world’s airspace, as well as the provision of aviation rescue fire fighting services at 27 of Australia’s busiest airports.
ARFF is the only national fire service in the country – a rapid intervention, first-response service which engages within minutes to provide aviation rescue and fire fighting services at 27 of Australia’s busiest airports.
Airservices Australia is currently recruiting for Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) service here.