Firefighter deaths inspire walk
Ron Winstone is leading a team of people walking from Geraldton to Perth, raising money for charity.
Six people will join Mr Winstone, departing Geraldton from the yet-to-be-opened volunteer fire station in Webberton tomorrow from 6am. They’ll walk more than 500km in 12 days, with people joining the group as they stop in towns along the way.
The group will be rattling tins, raising money for the Fiona Wood Foundation and the WA Emergency Services Volunteers Assistance Scheme.
The scheme is a fund available for emergency services volunteers who are facing hard times.
Mr Winstone, who organised the event, has been a volunteer firefighter for more than 40 years.
He spent 26 years volunteering in Toodyay, before moving to the Geraldton station in 1996.
“I’ve been to incidents where I’ve had to drag people out of fires, ” he said.
“I’ve seen the result of burns that they suffered.
“There’s always someone in the world worse off than you.”
Mr Winstone said the death of volunteer firefighters while he was working in Toodyay had affected him deeply.
He said it was the 2012 death of Wendy Bearfoot, a firefighter in Albany, which inspired him to organise the walk.
“It would’ve been wrenching for her husband, ” he said.
“Unless he had very, very close support, he would’ve had to give up his job to look after his children.”
Mr Winstone, who turns 71 later this year, said he wasn’t fussed about the gruelling walk.
“The beauty is these days on the road, every 5km there’s a sign saying how far you’ve got until your destination, and you just count it down, ” he said.
“One foot after the other.
“We’ll stop every hour.”
The walk will conclude at the Old Perth Fire Station.
The Webberton station is expected to open in November, with volunteers moving after 90 years at their current Anzac Terrace location.
To donate contact the Geraldton Volunteer Fire Station on 9921 2222.
