Beaconsfield survivor remembered for firefighting legacy

Todd Russell was known nationally as a survivor, but his community has known him for much longer as a dedicated volunteer firefighter.

Russell, who along with fellow miner Brant Webb, endured two weeks trapped underground in 2006 after a rockfall at the gold mine they were working in, died yesterday.

Tasmania Fire Service district officer Anthony Goss said Russell's legacy "will be carried forward for generations".

Todd Russell will be remembered around Australia as a survivor and a beacon of courage, but within the walls of the Beaconsfield Fire Brigade in Tasmania he will always be known as one of their own.

Russell died this week aged 54, days after leaving hospital to be with family, and 20 years since becoming internationally famous as a survivor of the Beaconsfield mine disaster.

He and fellow miner Brant Webb were trapped underground for two weeks in 2006 when the gold mine collapsed, killing their colleague Larry Knight.

At the time, Russell was already a long-serving Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) volunteer at the Beaconsfield brigade, which his grandfather had founded more than half a century beforehand.

He retired as the brigade's chief in February this year.

Outside the Beaconsfield brigade on Tuesday, TFS District Officer Anthony Goss honoured Russell's life and legacy.

He said Russell volunteered for the brigade for 31 years, and was one of Beaconsfield's longest serving brigade chiefs.

"The brigade was first founded back in 1953 by his grandfather, so I guess you could say the legacy of the Russell family started back then."

In an interview with ABC North West Queensland last year, Russell said his experience as a leader in the TFS helped during the mine collapse, and was a useful counter to Mr Webb's character.

"Brant being a joking sort of guy, he kept the spirits up, whereas I was more of a serious guy," he said.

Mr Goss said Russell's leadership would leave a "long-lasting effect" on the community and the members of the brigade.

"Todd had over 2,000 calls that he responded to, so you can imagine how much time out of his life, and his family time," he said.

A few of those calls in recent years have themselves been noteworthy.

In 2021, he helped rescue a German shepherd named Bear that had fallen down a mine shaft 15 years to the day after Russell was rescued from the gold mine.

"It's just one of those things. It just happened to be on the same day that I walked to freedom 15 years ago," Russell said at the time.

At the time, he said after 26 years it was the first time he was called to help rescue a dog from a mine shaft.

As tributes poured in for Russell on Tuesday, his volunteering to help fellow New South Wales firefighters during the 2019/20 black summer bushfires was also remembered.

Mr Goss said Russell received the National Emergency medal for his efforts during those bushfires, and that he had received the Tasmanian Volunteer Fire Service medal.

Bill Shorten, the former federal Labor leader who was national secretary of the Australian Workers' Union when the mine collapsed, also noted Russell's firefighting as a testament to his legacy.

He said Russell sent him a photo from the New South Wales deployment.

"This was a courageous bloke who used the next 20 years of his life that was given to him by this rescue and his own strength," Mr Shorten said.

Mr Shorten said Russell left the Beaconsfield gold mine in 2006 with confidence that he imparted as a mentor not only within the TFS, but the wider Tasmanian community.

"He then used that experience to educate, mentor and coach people about what being kind is like," he said.

"How to be a member of the community and a good member of the community, how to actually give more than you take.

"That is full credit to the man that Todd is, and was.

The Australian flag was flying at half mast at the Beaconsfield Fire Brigade on Tuesday, and Mr Goss said a guard of honour would be offered for Russell's funeral.

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff, sharing a photo of Russell in TFS garb, said his 31-year contribution to community service was "exemplary".

Deputy Premier Guy Barnett said the state government would consider "all options" available to pay respect to Russell.