Firefighter in regular contact with home
Images of walls of flames and charred landscapes caused by deadly wild fires were not enough for Cyndi Torckler to question her husband’s choice to go to Australia to help out.
Ken Torckler, a Department of Conservation employee, was part of a 22 person Fire and Emergency New Zealand deployment that left for New South Wales on January 8, and is expected to return next week.
The couple, who have been married for seven years and have a three-year-old son Isaiah, talked through the risks before his departure.
‘‘I thought we have to be doing something and he was in a position where he was able to go and with the skill set that he has got he is what is required.
‘‘I knew that he doesn’t take risks that compromise his safety.’’
Cyndi, a registered nurse with the Taranaki District Health Board, said the enormity of the situation was drummed home by fresh images on social media the weekend before Ken left but it wasn’t enough to cause concerns.
‘‘I think we are both helpers by nature and so I think when the opportunity arose he could go and help.
‘‘I knew that he is trained for it. When they do these deployments they are never by themselves, they are always in a team,’’ Cyndi said.
As she talks about missing Ken, Isaiah instinctively knows his dad is the topic of conversation and appears with one of the couple’s wedding photos.
Isaiah has a beaming smile as he swipes through photos of his father on his mother’s phone.
Ken is in regular contact and usually called when he got back to base after working a gruelling 12 to 14 hour day in the extreme heat of the burning outback, she said.
‘‘He is tired but I think that the adrenaline is keeping him going. He will crash when he gets home,’’ she said.
Cyndi said support from their families, her colleagues and employer was helping in Ken’s absence but she was looking forward to his return.