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Jim Runham Awarded AFSM
Our very own Jim Runham has been awarded the AFSM in the 2011 Australia Day Awards. The official citation reads as such:
AUSTRALIAN FIRE SERVICE MEDAL (AFSM) 341
Mr James Richard RUNHAM SC OAM, Willowtree Drive, Flinders View Qld 4305
Mr Runham has provided outstanding service to the Queensland community, and has demonstrated exemplary service and leadership in the establishment and ongoing support of the Ripley Valley Rural Fire Brigade as Chairman, firefighter, officer and Fire Warden. He has had particular focus on supporting the local community and promoting community safety at every opportunity, as well as demonstrating a commitment to the fire service through his instrumental role in the development of Global Positioning Systems and computer-aided mapping systems.
Awards/recognition include: Star of Courage, 2001. Medal of the Order of Australia, 1995.
Members of the Brigade understand the Jim has been one of the Brigade's founding members and driving force in the establishment of the professional, energetic and innovative culture in the Ripley Valley team. He has held basically all positions operationally and at management team level at one time or another and actively promoted and mentored younger members up with him continually along the way.
There are numerous other areas where Jim has ploughed considerable time and effort behind the scenes as well. He has been a strong community liaison person for the brigade with government contacts, indigenous and charity groups, cadets and local business' as well as a host of other service bodies such as the RSL.
He is Ripley Valley's Fire Warden and has served as the Ipswich Group Officer. When the VCE program was established, he jumped at the opportunity as this process formalised the educational message from the Rural Fire Service which he and John Bowles, another co-founder of the Brigade, have done for over 15 years since the Brigade began.
Jim has developed a very professional and highly regarded reputation for fire management expertise in the region and his time is keenly sort after by local organizations trying to mitigate the threat of wild fire. This great skill set is the starting point of the Brigade's regular and often large hazard reduction burn programs undertaken each year.
An extension of this planning and management role has been the development of the Pathfinder role and the establishment of a team of specialists. Jim has complimented this area of enhancement with a constant appraisal of new technologies including the cutting edge computer aided mapping software work which interfaced with GPS navigational units. Ripley Valley RFB was one of several Rural Fire Brigade's across Queensland who came together several years ago to help develop a tool kit to help other brigades adopt this type of technology and is now a QFRS standard.
His most recent area of technology research has inspired trials that involve the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in fire management and planning. This technology whilst still in it's infancy could well be a standard technology used by the QFRS in the near future.
To Jim Runham, for not only his considerable efforts and dedication to the Brigade, the Qld Fire and Rescue Service and the Community as a whole, but also his empathy and passion at a personal level as well as encouragement of the youth and disadvantaged, we say
thank you Jim.
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