Reuben Ferguson.

Reuben Douglas Ferguson died alone after he was crushed by a burning tree at a bushfire near Gembrook in January 1955.

Reuben was born at Greytown near Heathcote in 1897 and enlisted in 1916 with the 39^th Battalion to serve in France, where he was gassed.

Reuben worked as a labourer and had been employed by the Forests Commission since March 1954. And like many others, he was stationed during the working week at the Kurth Kiln forestry camp, which is just north of Gembrook township.

Reuben and his wife, Veronica Mary, normally lived in Montague Street in South Melbourne with their children James, Elaine, Joseph, Daniel and Loretto.

On Saturday 15 January 1955 a small fire broke out in the headwaters of the Bunyip River and two gangs (i.e., crews) of about 20 men were deployed – one from Kallista and one from Gembrook which included Rueben.

The fire was only 20 acres in size, so at 11 pm the word was passed around for the men to leave the fireground and resume work at daylight on Sunday morning around 5 am.

However, the men left the line in three different vehicles, and at different times and, more importantly, there was no head count to make sure that everyone was accounted for.

To complicate matters, the men also split up, with some going to their homes in Kallista and Gembrook, while others went back to camp at Kurth Kiln. It was late and people were tired, and no one noticed that Reuben was missing at the time.

Tragically, Reuben was found dead by a search party early on Sunday morning. It’s believed he had died instantly when a large burning tree fell tree across him on Saturday evening.

He is buried at Melbourne General Cemetery.

At the inquest, the Coroner expressed concern that Reuben’s absence had not been noticed and that crews had left the line without him. The Forests Commission developed new safety procedures following the accident.

I don’t have the stats, but I bet most injuries and fatalities amongst forest fire fighters has been from falling trees.

Photo: Emergency Services Memorial – Treasury Gardens.