Solo Aussie outback cop mans beat size of Britain
BIRDSVILLE: Being the only policeman in an area the size of Britain 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.
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’, so I put an application in,” he said.
He got the gig, and so two years ago hauled himself and his wife, Sharon, away from Queensland’s gleaming surf, 1,600km to the east, and into this sandy cauldron.
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 bonnet of his vehicle went viral.
Birdsville is home to just over 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.
So what’s the workload like? “Crime’s not an issue,” Pursell admits, adding that much of his job is that of a first responder.
“The type of jobs that we do is mainly just making sure that people get here safely, get home safely. Breakdowns, medical issues, accidents — we’ve got to be ready for those sorts of things.”
Because he has to monitor an area of 240,000sq km — where you can go for hours or days before someone passes — the involvement of the local community is essential.
And the job is non-stop, with calls coming in at any time of the day on any day of the week, each of them possibly involving someone you know well who is in peril or has died.
Perhaps surprisingly, one problem the policeman doesn’t complain about is loneliness.
Pursell realised 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 says.
“We’ve have never felt isolated or lonely out here. It’s a great little town.”