The memorial service for Dale Bowles
A memorial service has been held to honour the life of New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) Group Captain and former CFA firefighter Dale Bowles, who tragically died in the line of duty earlier this month.
CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan attended the service at Murray Gums Estate in Moama today alongside other CFA members, NSW RFS members, family, friends and the broader firefighting community.
Dale suffered a medical episode while at a fire in Moama on December 12. He was 60 years old and dedicated much of his life serving and protecting the community.
Dale was previously a CFA member at Mooroolbark Fire Brigade (District 13) from 1980-89.
He joined NSW RFS in 2015 where he served as Group Captain at the Womboota Rural Fire Brigade, which is near Moama.
CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said he was honoured to attend the memorial service for Dale alongside our firefighting colleagues.
“Dale devoted years of his life as a volunteer firefighter in Victoria and NSW. He will be extremely missed by all that worked alongside him.”
CFA and NSW RFS members work closely together on Victoria-New South Wales border towns such as Echuca and Moama.
Alex Green, lieutenant with Echuca CFA, and also a member of NSW RFS, attended Dale’s memorial with other CFA members.
He worked alongside Dale on incidents in the area, cross border training and the fireboat.
“Dale was a big supporter of cross border relations and an all-round good guy.” he said.
“We used to go around to his house after training exercises. He was a really good life mentor too.”