Two Lower South West residents receive Australian Fire Service Medal for dedication to community safety

Two Lower South West residents have been nationally recognised for their dedication to community safety. Governor-General Sam Mostyn awarded Bridgetown’s Murray Mitchell and Boyup Brook’s Gyula Bogar the Australian Fire Service Medal as part of the 2025 Australia Day Honours list announced on January 26. Both recipients were said to have shown unwavering dedication to public safety, both on the front line and behind the scenes in areas including leadership, training, rescue, and bushfire management. With more than 30 years in forestry and land management, Mr Mitchell was honoured for an enduring contribution to community safety through bushfire response and strategic work to protect life, property and biodiversity. He began his career as an operations officer in the Wheatbelt with the then-Department of Conservation and Land Management in 1995. In the four decades since, Mr Mitchell has been involved in the Norseman complex of fires in 2020 and the Wooroloo bushfire in 2021, deployed interstate to New South Wales, and to Montana in the US. More recently, he was involved in fighting the Bridgetown bushfires in February 2022 — which directly affected his home — despite being off-duty at the time. Mr Mitchell said he was humbled to receive the award. “I am an example of the many, many people out there who have done what I have done,” he said. “It’s really good acknowledgement for my family for what they have sacrificed — there’s been a lot of Christmases that I just have not been there — and again, I’m not special in that place.” Mr Mitchell has dedicated the majority of his professional life to the South West and is now a Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attraction senior project officer in the fire management services branch. Mr Bogar joined the Boyup Brook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service at age 15, and has dedicated his life to emergency services ever since. In 1980, he was instrumental in the VFRS securing appliances and equipment to expand into road crash rescue and hazardous materials handling capability. Mr Bogar is active in firefighting to this day, attending road crashes and mentoring volunteers. Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said it was “fantastic” to see these community-focused, reliable and resilient people nationally recognised for their decades of loyal service. “On behalf of the Cook Government, I congratulate these seven outstanding Western Australians on their achievements and dedication to community safety,” he said as he celebrated Mr Mitchell, Mr Bogar, and others. “Each of these medal recipients has displayed dedication and selflessness in the most challenging of circumstances and are very worthy of these prestigious honours.”