Outback cop mans beat the size of UK
BIRDSVILLE, Australia — Being the only policeman in an area the size of the United Kingdom might be daunting for some, but not for Senior Constable Stephan Pursell.
The easy-going 53-year-old runs a modest police station in the equally modest town of Birdsville, making him the law across a vast swathe of outback Australia.
In this isolated, arid, ferrousred-and-orange moonscape fringing the Simpson Desert, dust, pesky flies, feral camels, wild dogs and deadly snakes are your main companions.
Pursell acknowledges that his patch — which takes four days to drive across — is “quite big”. But he relishes the challenge.
“This (job) came up and I thought, ‘what an iconic location in Australia’,” he said, “so I put an application in.”
He got the gig, and so two years ago hauled himself and his wife Sharon away from Queensland’s gleaming surf, 1,600 kilometers to the east, and into this sandy caldron that covers an area of 240,000 square kilometers.
It is not a place for everyone. Daytime temperatures can soar above 40 C and strong winds can whip up dust storms that blot out the sun and turn the skies dark.
“You’ve got to experience it to enjoy it. It’s an amazing place,” said Pursell, who became an internet sensation last year after shots of him frying an egg in the withering heat on the hood of his Toyota Land Cruiser went viral.
Birdsville itself is home to just about 100 people. There’s one hotel that doubles as the watering hole. A roadhouse allows people to stock up on fuel and life-saving essentials. But the highlight may be a bakery selling curried camel pies. So what’s the workload like? “Crime is not an issue,” Pursell admits, adding that much of his job is that of a first responder.
Perhaps surprisingly, one problem the policemen don’t complain about is loneliness.
Pursell realized more people were popping into his station to talk to him after he was described in the local media as having the loneliest job in the country. “People came in just to have a chat, because they thought I was lonely,” he said.
“We’ve have never felt isolated or lonely out here. It’s a great little town.”