Fireman lived for children … and died for one: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Jennifer Sexton, John Stapleton. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 28 July 2004: 3.
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Abstract
PHILLIP Viles lived for children, his own three boys, the under- 16s he trained in rugby league and the nippers with whom he enjoyed the surf.
“He told the paramedics he knew he was in trouble and said `you have to get me through this, I have a young family at home’,” said Chris Warwick, president of the Budgewoi-Buff Point junior rugby league club where Mr Viles trained the under-16s.
Mr Viles surfed every day, ran a part-time upholstery business, including making surfboard covers labelled Jamitin, and worked as a caretaker at the local caravan park on top of his service with the NSW Fire Brigade.
Full Text
PHILLIP Viles lived for children, his own three boys, the under- 16s he trained in rugby league and the nippers with whom he enjoyed the surf.
On Monday night, the 41-year-old firefighter died trying to save a two-year-old boy trapped in an upstairs room of a house engulfed in flames.
The terrified boy beat at the window and screamed for his mother, who was downstairs at the family home at Doyalson on the NSW central coast, when the fire started late in the afternoon.
Mr Viles entered the house at least three times in a vain attempt to rescue toddler Brent Londrigan before collapsing on the front lawn.
He was rushed to Wyong Hospital but died of a heart attack in the ambulance just as it arrived.
“He told the paramedics he knew he was in trouble and said `you have to get me through this, I have a young family at home’,” said Chris Warwick, president of the Budgewoi-Buff Point junior rugby league club where Mr Viles trained the under-16s.
The dead toddler’s mother, Janelle Londrigan, was in a stable condition in Gosford Hospital last night after suffering burns.
His seven-year-old brother Shaun was playing at a neighbour’s house at the time of the fire and was unharmed, and father Greg was at work as a prison guard in Sydney.
Their near neighbour, Sharon Stephenson, said the scene was horrific. “You could hear the baby crying, the mother yelling `my baby’s in here, my baby’s in here’, and not being able to do a goddamn thing,” Ms Stephenson said.
“The fireys did everything they could, they could hear the kid crying for his mother, they went in as soon as they could bear the heat.
“The poor mother was beside herself.
“There was nothing anyone could do.”
Mr Viles and wife Tracey had three sons — Matt, 9, Luke, 14, and Josh, 16.
“He loved his kids. He was a battler. He was involved in everything and anything to do with kids,” his friend Mick Hart said.
Mr Viles surfed every day, ran a part-time upholstery business, including making surfboard covers labelled Jamitin, and worked as a caretaker at the local caravan park on top of his service with the NSW Fire Brigade.
The afternoon before he died, he told mate and fellow Tea Tree Board Riders Club member Shane Kavanagh of the challenges of fighting fires where smoke created whiteout conditions.
“He was telling me how proud he was to be involved in the work of firefighting,” Mr Kavanagh said.
“Phil died as a hero, that was my first reaction, especially after hearing that he went in to save that kid several times. He had a big heart.”
NSW Premier Bob Carr said it was a reminder of the dangers firefighters face.