Prestigious medal for Fire and Rescue NSW Assistant Commissioner Roger Mentha, of Woolooware

The award citation states that, during his 34 years of service, Mr Mentha has made an exemplary contribution to the organisation and its people.

This has included his roles in training and education, particularly the development of future officers and organisational reform, but also in major fire and rescue operations.

Throughout the 2019-2020 bushfire emergency, Mr Mentha had responsibility for allocating all resources across the Fire and Rescue NSW network.

As the leader of an incident management team, he was also at the forefront of complex, multi-agency responses to concerns about the structural stability of the Opal and Mascot Towers in 2019.

During his service, Mr Mentha has volunteered for many years with the NSW Fire Brigades Relief and Welfare Fund, where he is currently the president.

In his volunteer role with the Relief and Welfare Fund he has helped hundreds of his colleagues and their family members when they needed it most as they dealt with hardship and distress.

Mr Mentha was a carpenter and a police officer before becoming a firefighter, starting at Kogarah fire station.

He told the Leader he saw firefighting as an opportunity to help the community in a different way. The physical nature of the work also appealed.

"It has been very fulfilling," he said. "By using your skills and training, you can really help out in people's time of need."

Mr Mentha said he was "very worried" during the 2019-20 bushfire emergency because "a lot of good people were involved in fighting those fires".

"The fires were very extreme and were changing daily," he said.