Australian Fire Service Medal

CITATION

JOHN BRYAN GLEDHILL

John Bryan Gledhill was appointed to the Rural Fires Board in January 1974 as a look out and firefighter.

From 1975 to 1980 John held a number of positions including Engineering Clerk, Fire Control Officer, Operations Officer, Snr Instructor Training and District Officer. John attended the University of Tasmania from 1972 to 1979 and completed a Bachelor of Science degree,

As President of the Tasmanian Branch of the Institute of Fire Engineers (IFE) John represented Tasmania at the IFE International Conference in Birmingham England in September 1989.  In March 1990 he was promoted to the position of Regional Officer (South).  In January 1994 John was appointed as Commander of Task Force Tiger a Tasmanian Contingent of approx 100 firefighters.  The task force was assembled equipped and flown to NSW at very short notice following an emergency call from the NSW Bushfire Service.

In 1994 John was promoted to the position of Deputy Chief Officer and subsequently to the position of Chief Officer in 1995. In 1997 he was appointed Treasurer of the Australasian Fire Authorities Council. The success of the TFS in containing and extinguishing life threatening fires on Mount Nelson in 1998 again demonstrated his professionalism and leadership as Chief Officer.

He has represented Tasmania & Australia internationally and was a guest speaker at the International Association of Wild Land Fire in 1998 in Washington State USA. In 1999 he was invited to address the Catalonian Government in Spain on evacuation during bushfires and participate in a fire management planning session in Barcelona.

John was awarded his National medal in 1989.