A volunteer firefighter who died of a heart attack while battling a blaze in the NSW Hunter region has been remembered as a loving family man felled while trying to protect his community.
Deputy captain Paul Sanderson, 48, was with fellow Rural Fire Service (RFS) volunteers taking refuge from a bushfire near Cessnock when he collapsed just after 7pm on Thursday.
A southerly change had made the fire volatile and dangerous, forcing them to seek safety, said RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons on Friday.
While they took refuge, Mr Sanderson collapsed.
His fellow volunteers worked on him with defibrillators before emergency services arrived. He was taken to John Hunter Hospital where he was unable to be revived.
Mr Sanderson, 48, is survived by his wife Deena, his children Lucy and George, and grandson Jaydyn. "They've lost a husband, a soul mate, a dad, a grandfather. A mother's lost a son," Mr Fitzsimmons told reporters on Friday. "Their dad, their husband, went out to make a difference in the local community and didn't come home."
Mr Sanderson, from the Kurri Kurri brigade, had been an RFS member for almost 20 years and was recently awarded life membership. "The brigade will miss him, the community will miss him," Mr Fitzsimmons said. "It's absolutely tragic someone goes out for the want of nothing for free, to make a difference in their community and haven't been able to make it home."
Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said on Friday the family would receive full compensation and support from the government.
NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley and Shadow Minister for Emergency Services Guy Zangari passed on their condolences.
Meanwhile, the Australian Defence Force has confirmed a live mortar exercise was under way when an out-of-control blaze started on the NSW south coast on Thursday.
The fire started on the Beecroft Peninsula and tore through an unexploded ordnance range before it was brought under control less than a kilometre from nearby houses in the small town of Currarong.
Close to 30 blazes burned out of control on Thursday, as nearly 400 firefighters worked to contain and monitor the bush and grass fires across the state.
