RFS volunteer finds pearls lost in floods, returns them to thankful Woodburn woman
March 16, 2022
ABOVE: Valla RFS volunteer Frank Nunnari returns the lost pearls to the woman from Woodburn who thought they had been washed away in the floods. Photo: NSW RFS
Susanna Freymark
For almost two weeks, Rural Fire Service crews have driven to flood areas to hose out mud from shops and houses.
Urbenville, Casino and Bonalbo RFS were in Coraki. Old Bonalbo RFS helped hose out houses in Woodburn.
Casino East and Urbenville RFS hose the Coraki Bowling Club. Photo: Contributed
Casino East, Mallanganee, Kyogle, Tomki and many others helped across the region, their crew names emblazoned on the fire trucks as they headed into disaster areas to help.
These volunteers worked for days and into weeks.
NSW RFS headquarters said crews from across the state came to the region to help with the clean-up.
Emergency services and the army working together during the flood disaster. Photo: Contributed
Valla RFS volunteer Frank Nunnari was one of them and he was in Woodburn.
“Yesterday, we had to clean the inside of a house. Water was just over the doors,” Frank said.
“When we got there a woman was sitting in a chair with tears in her eyes when she saw us coming.
“We said – ‘We’re here to help, where do you want us to start?’
She asked us to keep an eye out for a “tiny bag with a set of pearls in it”.
The woman figured with the amount of water that came through, she would have to face the fact they were gone, Frank said.
As the Valla crew were cleaning the house, Frank spotted something stuck to the veranda floor.
“It was a little bag covered in mud with the pearls inside,” he said.
“I gave them to her and she started to cry, and so did l.”
RFS crews from Sydney drove 40 motorhomes to Casino and returned on the bus. Photo: Contributed
