As the Black Summer bushfires tore through the region putting lives at risk, two men – both aged in their 80s – stood in its path to protect their community.
John Matters, 88, and Brian Coates, 87, have been volunteer firefighters at Hill Top, in the Southern Highlands near Colo Vale, since they were 12 years old. They know the region like the back of their hands.
They played a vital role in protecting their town from the Green Wattle Creek bushfire in the summer of 2019-20, and now the two mates have been immortalised in a mural.
Kiama street artist Samuel Hall is the man behind the stunning 20 metre long mural on the side of Hill Top Rural Fire Brigade’s station.
It took 75 hours to create – the base coat is regular house paint, the rest is aerosol spray cans.
The artwork’s subjects are still in shock by the fire’s fury.
“It was that vicious that there was nothing really we could do … all we could do was protect structures we could get to. You don’t want to put someone’s life at risk to save a house,” Mr Matters said.
“It was a wake up call for a lot of people.”
The men know the local geography well, and decades of fighting fires and conducting hazard reductions there meant they knew the “habits” of how fires burn there.
One night as the Green Wattle Creek bushfire raged towards Hill Top, the men grabbed torches and, on foot, led a procession of earthmoving equipment through the bush from Buxton to Hill Top (around 12 kilometres) so they could create a fire break.
It gave firefighters room to bring their trucks through so they could light a new fire along that path to try to snuff out the raging flames of the Green Wattle Creek blaze.
Mr Coates vividly remembers the moments Hill Top and its residents were at risk.
“I don’t think you really got time to be nervous. You’re concentrating on what you’re doing,” he said.
Representing all volunteer firefighters
The subjects of the mural are humble and feel honoured. They are quick to say fighting any fire is a team effort, they are part of a group.
“I tried to stop it,” Mr Matters said of the mural. “Then a good friend of mind said ‘it’s not you that it’s really about, it’s about the Rural Fire Service.
“In a few years time people won’t know who these two sill old fellas are.”
Mr Coates daughter Katherine is overwhelming proud of her dad and his inclusion in the mural.
“They physically walked with the torch in the middle of the night, from Buxton to Hill Top, in front of a bulldozer showing them what trees to push down,” she said.
“They were the only ones who actually knew the run of the land.”
How the mural was created
Mr Hall met the volunteer firefighters in a nearby park, got them chatting and reminiscing and then took photos of the firefighters which he then used to create his giant mural.
“I wanted to get them feeling quite natural and getting the expression right and getting that little glimmer in their eyes, that’s the most important thing,” he said.
He used those photos he took while creating the mural.
“I really wanted to tell a story of rejuvenation,” he said.
Mr Hall’s long been associated with creativity, art and photography in the Illawarra and further afield.
His father is former Kiama Independent sports editor and photographer David Hall, and as a child father and son would develop photos in the dark room together.
His parents once owned the Kodak shop in Kiama.
“I grew up printing roles of film and editing photos. This project in particular was something where I really wanted to be able to use my own photography. I love portrait photography,” he said.
The mural was funded by the Black Summer Bushfire Grant.
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