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Allan & Paul RollesPrint Page Print this page

24-July-2017
24-July-2017

Photographs supplied by Tom Bird

The local bushfire brigade erected a cairn of quartz stones to commemorate Allan and Paul Rolles who were killed in the 1987 bushfires.

In 1987, on a hillside west of Cootamundra, a man cutting thistles and burrs struck a stone with a hoe and sparked a catastrophe. Dry and gusty westerly winds pushed flames through paddocks, across roads, beyond frantic firefighters.  The inferno pushed east towards Muttama and in one tragic incident, a ball of flame enveloped firefighters Allan and Paul Rolles. Severely burned, the father and son drove back to their farm near Gundagai. Allan asked his wife Patsy to spray them with a garden hose. The men were treated in local hospitals then transferred by air ambulance to Sydney. Both died in the burns unit of Concord Hospital.

Location

Address:Bridge Street, Muttama, 2722
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -34.805233
Long: 148.11343
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Disaster
Sub-Theme:Fire
Approx. Event Start Date:January-1987
Approx. Event End Date:January-1987

Dedication

Front Inscription
In memory of Allan & Paul Rolles who died while serving as members of the Muttama Bush Fire Brigade in the Jan. 1987 fire
Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au