WHEN Tom Kenneally retired earlier this year from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), his job was a far cry from the one he started with the Forestry Department in 1985 at the age of 22.
It wasn’t just the name of the department which had changed, although in 38 years, he saw plenty of those.
First, the Forestry Department became Conservation and Land Management, then the Department of Environment and Conservation, then Parks and Wildlife, before the most recent change to DBCA.
He still worked with parks and wildlife services, but as a section within the DBCA.
“When I started with the Forestry Department at Wanneroo, it was ecological training,” Tom said.
“It was a healthy, outdoor job. Now, the senior staff have a much more sedentary job, in the office doing admin for seven-and-a-half hours a day.
“They have changed the basic policy from forestry and recreation to fire prevention, to a silo system specialising in one area, so you don’t get a broad experience any more.
“It was a radical change, aimed at getting the best out of a team.”
Tom grew up in Kalgoorlie, his father was a gold miner, and he went to school at St Joseph’s Christian Brothers College.
“Kalgoorlie used to have forest, but they cut down the trees to use in the mines,” Tom said.
His favourite tree in those days was the salmon gum, which besides being a beautiful tree, is very tough, with a dense timber.
“They planted a lot of trees in the streets from seed to replace those lost to the mines,” Tom said.
“The jarrah is my favourite tree now, their timber is very dense, and they are very resilient.”
When Tom left Kalgoorlie, it was for a sea change, not a tree change, as he joined the navy. But he only lasted six months before leaving to join the forestry.
He moved from Perth to Wanneroo, then to Harvey, arriving in Collie in 1988.
At the time, there was a workforce in Collie of around 80, some of them true bushmen.
“In your first year here, it was important to get to know the bush, maps were not all that effective, and you didn’t have satellite or GPS,” Tom said.
“One of the men then, Jim Raper, knew the bush, he didn’t need maps.
“They weren’t all that much use anyway, as the tracks changed with logging and rehabilitation, and overarching fires.”
Tom recalled that there was one set of maps for the public and another for the department.
“Ron Winfield was another one who never used a map,” he said. “Ron was very resourceful, he found a solution which reduced the amount of flow rates needed to depress burning wood.
“He would lightly spray, it was really water conservation, using high pressure and low volume – he was ahead of his time.
“He was passionate about invasive species, he became obsessed with locating and destroying the Victorian tea-tree.”
Charlie Downes was another helpful colleague, and an encyclopaedia of information, Tom said, with Collie district manager Drew Griffiths another who made an impression.
Tom recalled that Drew had an open-door policy.
“He arrived in the early ‘90s, he was a very caring man who was deeply committed to the job and looked after his staff,” Tom said. “He was the last manager to live in Collie, and that was very effective.
“Many times, he would meet people in the supermarket, and solve issues there rather than across the counter at work.
“Joe Northover liked him, as he encouraged people and got along with them very well.”
Transfers in the department were for promotion and building broader experience.
But one drawback at that time was the requirement to be available for bushfire control, meaning staff could not take leave during the summer period.
“Kids never really had summer holidays with their dad,” Tom said.
“There is more flexibility with leave now.”
An innovation that Tom developed for field work with the DBCA was the mobile 30,000 litre tank.
He developed it in 2010, and in 2019, obtained funding for it to be put into use.
When Tom came to Collie in 1988, he joined the town fire brigade and for many years was captain.
He said that of late he has not been turning out to fight fires, and is now in a support role as secretary.
Last Saturday, the Collie Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service, which was founded in 1903, celebrated 120 years of service to the community.
The firefighter of the year award, named in Tom’s honour, was presented during the celebration.
One local fire which sticks out in Tom’s memory was at Guppy’s panel beaters.
“That was a big save, we saved most of the contents of the workshop,” Tom said.
“It was a fire in a tip truck in the early morning, it could have caused $1 million in damage. It was a significant fire.”
In common with bushfire brigades, the fire and rescue service relies heavily on volunteers, but Tom points out that the bushfire brigades operate on a more seasonal basis.
Most of their fires occur through the summer, while the “town” brigade is called on to fight fires throughout the year.
“The bushfire brigades aren’t trained in fighting internal structural fires, that’s the biggest difference,” Tom said.
While he has left the DBCA, Tom has no plans to leave Collie. But he and his wife, Fran, do have grandchildren to call them away from town for visits and family occasions.
Their commitment to Collie is shown by the recent planting of a young Eucalyptus torquata, also known as a coral gum or Coolgardie gum, in their front garden.