HIGHLY experienced and passionate about firefighting, Victorian firefighter Peter Cramer died doing what he'd devoted half his life to.
The 61-year-old, from Tyers in Victoria's Gippsland region, was one of more than 70 Victorian emergency services workers sent to Tasmania on Thursday to help fight the state's devastating fires, which have destroyed more than 130 homes since January 4.
Mr Cramer died on Sunday at Taranna, east of Hobart, while working on foot to identify potential containment lines on the southern boundary of the Forcett fire, about 2-3 kilometres from the active fire edge.
He was to have returned home on Tuesday, but was found dead at 5pm (AEDT) on a bush track after he failed to make a scheduled call-in.
Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) chief fire officer Alan Goodwin said Mr Cramer had been a DSE firefighter for more than 30 years and a CFA volunteer for more than two decades.
A well respected firefighter, he was a DSE training co-ordinator who also volunteered his time to train CFA volunteers.
"As training co-ordinator he loved teaching and passing on his knowledge and had a passion for fire and land management," Mr Goodwin told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.
His wife Julie and family remembered him as a "tremendous husband, father, brother and mate" who loved helping people.
"We knew that firefighters were his second family," a family statement said.
"Peter truly believed his work made a difference to the community. He was a truly dedicated firefighter."
They also remembered a man with a great sense of humour and larrikin charm who was known for his cheeky smile and kind words.
Mr Goodwin first met Mr Cramer on a deployment to the US in 2003, which his family said was a career highlight.
"He was always fun, he greeted you with a smile and a solid handshake, and that's how I will remember him," Mr Goodwin said, echoing the family's sentiments.
Mr Goodwin said the cause of death was unknown and Mr Cramer had recently passed a fitness test.
"Certainly all our firefighters that we send away, all our firefighters go through our fit-for-fire program, through medical testing and so forth, and Peter was certainly part of that," he said.
David Hamilton, president of the United Firefighters Union Victorian branch, said Mr Cramer's death highlighted the strenuous conditions and mental and physical demands placed on firefighters.
"These things can always be done better, and if, unfortunately, these high dangers and situations are occurring, I think the agencies and government probably should look at managing it better or increasing firefighter numbers," Mr Hamilton said.
Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said losing a firefighter came as a shock.
"To lose someone in active duty is something you don't plan for," he said.
"We take our caps off to what Peter has done in three decades of service to Victoria through firefighting."
A CFA spokesman said Mr Cramer was well known and well regarded in the Gippsland region and his colleagues at Swifts Creek and Tyers, where he was a member, were devastated by the news.
Mr Cramer would volunteer his time to work with "dozens and dozens and dozens" of new recruits, he said.
"He was a pretty remarkable person," the spokesman said.
The Tasmanian and Victorian premiers have sent their condolences to his family.
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