The flames surrounding Lara senior station officer Simon Scharf and his five crews from the Geelong region lay low.

“You could have walked around with a wet wheat bag and put the fire out,” Mr Scharf said.

As the strike team leader, Mr Scharf made the decision to send the Geelong City and Geelong West tankers towards the Linton Cemetery to collect more water.

Unbeknownst to him, this decision would prove fatal. 

Mr Scharf and his fellow Geelong crews were initially called to assist with the blaze late afternoon after they were told the town of Linton was under threat. 

The arrived at the incident base located at the Linton Football oval prior to 6pm. A cool wind change was forecasted to hit the area, potentially exacerbating the severity of the blaze. It never came.

The team was deployed out to the east of Linton to extinguish some smaller fires. 

“We had it under control, it was all looking like a bit of a fizz to be honest,” Mr Scharf said.

He learned in that instance how quickly things can change.

“I remember hearing a bit of a noise coming from the south and noticing an increase in flame height. I saw the trees get hammered by wind and the fire just took off from there.”

News of a wind change due for about 9pm had come through to the fire command centre, but not been given to Mr Scharf and his team.

“The noise of the fire was like standing next to a jet engine, it was absolutely horrendous.”

The change skyrocketed flames 30 metres into the sky. Mr Scharf was first concerned for the safety of a bulldozer driver who was out on the track with his team.

“Once we got him out of danger I quickly put in an emergency call to the Geelong City and Geelong West tankers. They would have only been about 150 metres away but were out of my sight line.

“I had no contact with them until several minutes later when Geelong City made a mayday call, letting me know that two trucks were surrounded by fire, that they were trapped.”

Mr Scharf was then faced with one of the most difficult decisions a person could be asked to make.

“Once we heard their call, the first thing I had to do was stop the other truck I had with me from trying to make a rescue attempt because it would have been absolutely futile. I thought I had already lost 10 people, so to have another crew drive into that environment was something I couldn't let happen. It was the most difficult and intense situation I’ve ever experienced.”

After waiting an unknown period of time for conditions to ease, Mr Scharf ran up the path the two tankers had taken, only to find destruction.

“I was in absolute shock. Horror. It was absolutely terrible. To witness and see that knowing that they were my crew. Seeing that the five members from Geelong City had survived was a relief but it was just horrific and horrible.”

The crew manning the Geelong West tanker, Matthew Armstrong, 17, Jason Thomas, 25, Chris Evans, 27, Stuart Davidson, 28, and Garry Vredeveldt, 47 were overcome by the blaze, making the ultimate sacrifice in protecting the community.

Mr Scharf took full responsibility for the tragedy. 

“I remember as I started to walk away from the scene I thought to myself ‘I’m the leader, I've lost five members of my crew, I've obviously made decisions here that has led to the death of five people.' 

“To me the most important thing was first to protect the crime scene, and second was to make sure the families of those crew members got the truth of what happened here.”

The incident led to a massive overhaul in firefighter safety across the state. Minimum training measures have been implemented, along with a huge investment into advanced firefighting equipment and communications.

“The fact that we're now 20 years removed from this event and we haven't lost a single firefighter in a situation like that is the unfortunate legacy Linton has left behind.”

Mr Scharf says he will never forget the five members of his team lost in 1998.

In memory of the five firefighters’ sacrifice, Geelong West Brigade is conducting a commemoration service on Sunday 2 December at 6.00pm at the Geelong West Memorial Park.

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