Inspiring Woman
Joan Robson — Fighting fires her way.
Joan Robson would tell you that she is
As her children grew a little older Joan became
just an ordinary woman and mother.
involved in the Country Fire Authority where her
husband was captain of the local brigade.
“There is nothing very special about

me” she says. She is wrong. In those days the town in which they lived was

quite small and most of the locals were farmers.
Joan is the daughter of a farmer and a true coun-
The area was dissected by a highway and a rail-
try woman. She is a mother of 5, four sons and a
way line. There were fires lit by trains on one
daughter. She is grandmother to 12. She is a
side and horrible car accidents on the other. It
motherly sort of person that kids are always
was the members of the CFA who got to fix and
drawn to. She is a great cook and gardener.
clean up both.


You would be very wrong if you thought that is not
Joan became the communications officer for her
all there is to her.
local brigade. For the next 30 years she man-

aged the radio communications between base
In her youth Joan was a light opera singer who
and the fire trucks.
was heard on radio and on stage. She even re-

corded her own record. She had a beautiful voice
Summers were always hectic. Living in a
that would have led her to at least local fame.
drought prone area meant that summer always
Instead she married and, as women did in those
brought fires, some much bigger than others.
days, gave up her career to become a wife and
Winters brought road fatalities as well as floods
mother.
to deal with and it was not unusual to see Joan

out there shovelling sand into bags so that local
properties could be sandbagged to prevent
flooding.

Joan was really put to the test during the 1969
fires which burnt out local towns, as well ad dur-
ing the Ash Wednesday fires.

In 1969 she was home with her children, the eld-
est of whom was 9. Fires were raging in nearby
towns, one of which was already totally de-
stroyed. The day was hot and the smoke was
so thick in the sky that the sun was a dim orange
ball in the sky.. Breathing was difficult as the air
was full of smoke.

Looking out of the window Joan saw a nearby
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