Forster firefighter recognised in Queen's Birthday Honours
Published: 12th June 2017
A Forster fire captain’s commitment to leading emergency responses and educating residents about fire safety has been recognised in today’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Captain Paul Langley, who has served with Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) for more than 23 years including over 13 years as Captain at Forster Fire Station, has been awarded the prestigious Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM).
The AFSM is the highest honour an Australian firefighter can receive and Captain Langley is one of four FRNSW firefighters to be awarded the medal in today’s honours.
FRNSW Commissioner Paul Baxter congratulated Captain Langley, of Tuncurry, on the well-deserved recognition.
“Captain Langley has demonstrated excellent leadership at many emergency incidents and in the daily running of Forster Fire Station. The management of his team and the pro-active role he has taken in educating residents about fire safety is second to none,” he said.
“Forster has benefitted from Captain Langley’s dedication to community education programs, which have a heavy emphasis on public safety. He is also highly regarded within other emergency service organisations for his efforts to mitigate the impact emergency incidents have on the local community.”
Commissioner Baxter said under the leadership of Captain Langley, Forster Fire Station is responsible for attending serious and often difficult high speed motor vehicle impacts in the region.
“Captain Langley and the Forster Fire Station road crash rescue extrication team were selected to represent FRNSW in the Australasian Road Rescue Organisation (ARRO) road crash rescue extrication competition in 2015. This is a highly technical and intense competition that tests the skills of the best road rescue crews within Australasia,” he said.
“His crew have a professional "can do" approach and through his leadership, have ingrained themselves as a highly-respected team within FRNSW and the Forster community.”
“Captain Langley has displayed distinguished service over more than 20 years and is a worthy recipient of this Queen’s Birthday Honour.”
Captain Langley will be presented with his AFSM at a ceremony at Government House in Sydney later this year.