His younger colleagues lovingly call him the dinosaur and after five decades of serving the public, Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Station Officer Fred Parkhouse has called time on his career.
The 68-year-old joined NSW Fire Brigades, as it was known then, as a teenager and progressed through the ranks, learning all aspects of firefighting and rescue work.
Fire and Rescue NSW Duty Commander Chris Bishop said Parkhouse is still as keen to protect the community as the day he joined.
“Fred thrives on going to active incidents, extinguishing fires and helping those in need,” Bishop said.
“He’s just that type of character, that’s his domain – if a major incident is happening and he’s there, he takes control and he still loves it after 50 years.
“It’s obviously a very hard decision for him to leave Fire and Rescue NSW because he still has a great love for firefighting.
“He’s got an enormous amount of knowledge and a great ability to see the bigger picture at incidents.
“At times, when I’ve arrived at a scene, Fred will already be liaising with all the other agencies and he’ll have everything in hand.
“He’ll have informed the Police and he’ll have all the utility companies organised, he’ll be speaking with the owners, he’ll be dealing with people who’ve been impacted by the incident.
“You just can’t buy that experience.”
Over the past 50 years Parkhouse has served all over NSW from Broken Hill to Sydney, and for the past 17 he has lead the team of firefighters at Gosford Station.
His colleagues suggest he’s also remained a firefighter all this time by order of his wife, Janet.
“We’ve always said Janet doesn’t want him to retire, she wants him out of her hair – that’s why he’s stayed in the job so long,” Bishop said.
“But we really know it’s her support that has enabled him to achieve this remarkable period of service.”
There’s been plenty of good-natured banter with his younger colleagues and father-figure Fred is known to give as good as he gets.
On his last shift on September 20, a host of Parkhouse’s commanders, including Deputy Commissioner – Field Operations, Jeremy Fewtrell, joined his Central Coast colleagues at a surprise farewell lunch at Gosford Fire Station.
With his kids now grown up and his service number retired, Parkhouse plans to enjoy a holiday with his wife and settle down to a quieter life in the Hunter Valley.
Source:
Fire and Rescue NSW