Fire and Rescue NSW Station 488 Shellharbour

Warilla family loses everything except beloved pet dogs in fire inferno 'Like a roman candle': Firefighters faced challenges when trying to get the blaze under control.

Woman burnt as family and pet dog escape inferno in their Warilla home Downed live powerlines and an exploding gas bottle hamper firefighters at Warilla blaze.

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What do our Shellharbour Firefighters do on their days off? Well here's a story of a surfing competition some of us attended recently, raising money for charity. Enjoy....

Guns, Hearts and Hoses SURFING COMP | 4K Drone + POV 🚒 🌊 Join me and my firefighter mates as we hit the road for an epic...

In his 36 years of service, veteran firefighter Darin Sullivan had only seen a nursing home fire once.

During the afternoon of May 22, he came face to face with his second - and the potential loss of dozens of lives.
Receiving an automatic fire alarm from Blue Haven Bonaira in Kiama is "pretty normal" for the Shellharbour Fire Station commander.

But as he and his crew - alongside the Kiama brigade - raced toward the scene, staff at the facility called triple zero.
That single call triggered a massive escalation. A standard two-truck response instantly doubled to four trucks, bolstered by a Hazmat unit, a duty commander, and a ladder truck.

Police and paramedics also rushed to the scene.

Upon arrival, firefighters saw a ground floor independent living unit engulfed, flames devouring a mattress and much of the bedroom.

The resident had fled just moments before the blaze took hold, leaving the entire ground floor heavily smoke-logged.
"It was clear to me that this could have potentially been quite disastrous," Mr Sullivan said.

"We had real potential to have numerous elderly persons trapped. It could have potentially been a mass casualty incident."
In the face of disaster, panic never took hold for Mr Sullivan and other responders, who remained "pretty calm" by calling upon their training and muscle memory

Nursing staff had also leaped into action, navigating the emergency to safely evacuate 52 residents.

In the end, every person was accounted for and without any injuries reported.

“It's a bit of a unicorn. A fire in a nursing home like that is pretty rare ... they don't happen very often," Mr Sullivan said.
He attributed the flawless outcome to the seamless teamwork between his crews and the facility's staff, along with the automatic system in place.

"Shoutout to the Kiama Fire and Rescue crew who did a great job, along with my crew and all Fire Rescue FFs who attended," Mr Sullivan said.

**Station commander Darin Sullivan at Fire and Rescue NSW Shellharbour Fire Station.**

Revealed: the heroes who stopped a potentially deadly Kiama aged care blaze in its tracks 'It could have potentially been a mass casualty incident.'

Around 4pm yesterday Kiama Firefighters, along with Shellharbour Fire Station and Gerringong RFS, responded to reports of a fire at the Blue Haven Bonaira site.

Kiama and Shellharbour Firefighters worked quickly to extinguish the fire which was located within a residential unit.

Blue Haven Bonaira staff did a great job with evacuations and looking after the residents while the incident was unfolding. Thankfully only 2 people were assessed for minor smoke inhalation.