SUMMER storm heroes who helped rescue a driver trapped in the swollen Nardoo Creek have been shunned at the National Search and Rescue Awards.
Credit for the dramatic Wedderburn rescue on January 2 was last week given to five State Emergency Service volunteers from Bendigo and Marong.
The Federal Government’s Australian Maritime Safety Authority presented the National Search and Rescue Council’s professional volunteer award to the SES, saying members had saved a life.
Wedderburn residents, including members of the rejuvenated local SES unit, have been quick to vent anger that their local heroes have been whitewashed from the dramatic rescue of Paul Winter from his vehicle.
Mr Winter’s traumatic ordeal started at Tantalla Street when his vehicle was caught by rising floodwaters and ended several hundred metres downstream with the rescue by five locals and a sole SES volunteer wading into the creek and using a rope to pull him home to safety.
Daughter Emma Winter said last week: “I credit each and every one of you daily for your handwork and dedication on that day. Credit definitely deserved by you all. And a few other locals as well. And to that, Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Ms Winter told the Loddon Herald on Sunday that her father died four weeks ago and she did not wish to speak further on the incident.
Rescuer Andrew Roberts said the SES accolade was disappointing when with one exception “they were standing around doing nothing, We don’t want the recognition, but when others are claiming to be heroes, that’s very strange.”
“Someone had to step up, we did. If things had continued as they were, he would have died,” Mr Roberts said.
“Don’t take the p... and claim to have done something you clearly have not done.
“It’s like claiming you got best-on-ground in a grand final and you didn’t even play.”
Witnesses to the dramatic rescue have backed the role played by Mr Roberts, off-duty police sergeant Ben Huisman, Matthew Tansley, Scott Cunningham and his 15-year-old son Will.
The authority has confirmed that the award nomination was made by an SES volunteer.
“Nominations undergo a thorough vetting process by relevant jurisdictions, as represented on NATSAR Council,” said an AMSA spokesperson.
“NATSAR Council then evaluates nominations based on the nominee’s impact, professionalism, and overall contribution to search and rescue efforts, before voting.”
Video footage of the rescue shows local rescuers and just one SES volunteer in the water as Mr Winter was pulled to safety. The SES has claimed: “With one patient and their dog trapped inside the vehicle, (deputy controller) James (Plowright) sprinted along the bank with a personal floatation device and assisted others who had become trapped in the waist-deep water, while a crew of volunteers in a utility raced to get ahead of the vehicle.”
Witnesses, including former Wedderburn SES chiefs Paul Gordon Cooke and Reg Holt, say inaction by SES volunteers hampered by bureaucracy and approval protocols had delayed the rescue. “The real heroes that evening were locals who took decisive action to rescue the trapped man.”
Mr Holt said: “For almost an hour, the SES had prevented a full-weight fire truck backing into the Tantalla Street causeway to hook the vehicle and then a large semi-trailer doing the same.
“They said they were trying to get a helicopter or boat for the rescue,” according to Mr Holt.
“The locals were the ones who went in and saved a life ... the SES was standing on the side lines, unable to make a decision without clearance from someone in an office in Bendigo or Melbourne,
“Continued pontification by the SES that night could have been deadly if not for the real heroes, the locals who acted before it was too late.”
CFA volunteers at the rescue have backed his claim.