Allan Rendell

Allan Rendell of the Illawong Brigade was 35 years of age when he was part of the efforts to fight a bush fire in the Royal National Park in the Sutherland District in October 1988. For a large part of Sunday 9 and Monday 10 October, crews were engaged in repelling fire from house after house on the east, south and west perimeters of Bundeena township.

Tuesday was spent mopping up and securing the fireground. Then at 1.30pm, on Wednesday 12 October 1988, fire was deliberately lit by a person or persons unknown in the Royal National Park, to the east of Sir Bertram Stevens Drive. Norwesterly winds were spreading the fire swiftly, until the southerly hit at 6.30pm, which sent several fronts of fire racing off on different tangents.

At 11:30pm on Wednesday, a state of Emergency, under Section 41F of the Bush Fires Act was declared, as there had been no let up in the intensity or spread of the fire.

Local crews had much assistance from out-of-area brigades and personnel, but throughout the whole they worked to the point of exhaustion. By Sunday evening (16 October), after almost eight days of unremitting firefighting, the fire that had burnt 1,000 hectares around Bundeena and in excess of 5,000 in the second, was contained and nearly all out except for the vital exercise of mopping up.

Illawong 81, a water tanker, was moving along Lady Carrington Drive, stopping whenever a hot spot was seen, and the crew dealing with it. The vehicle, driven by Allan Rendell, was approximately 2.5 kilometres in from McKell Drive (and approx. 8 kilometres from Audley) and was stationary.

At 8.23pm the ominous loud sound of a large tree snapping off and starting to fall was heard and one of the firefighters yelled to the driver to get out of the cab. Instead of opening the door beside him, Allan flung himself across to the passenger side and had the door partly open when the 200ft tree crashed onto the windscreen and the passenger side of the vehicle. It is believed he would have been killed instantly.

Allan left behind a wife, Robyn, a son Tim and a daughter Belinda.

Allan Rendell joined the Illawong Brigade in 1979. He was a Deputy Captain for eight years. His business career had him as a bank officer with the National Bank of Australia until 1988, when he actively sought a position in a fire service because of his interest in this field of work. When this was not forthcoming, he joined another company as a sales representative, and at the same time, he took on a second job to help reduce heavy home purchase expenses.

The second job was driving for Menai Bus Service. They wanted him to work over the weekend prior to his passing, ferrying bus loads to and from the air show at Richmond. He declined because of his commitment to seeing the Royal National Park fire to an entirely satisfactory conclusion.

He was described by the then Captain of the Illawong Brigade, speaking for all of their members, as a quiet, unassuming, very reliable and methodical person who approached his many involvements on behalf of the community with dedication.

Alan Rendell, rear centre, at the Royal Agricultural Easter Show 1988