When Bulli fireman Clayton Allison set off for Japan after the 2011 tsunami emergency, he thought he would be rescuing people.
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But it took two days to reach the devastated shores. And the tsunami had been abysmal in its destruction.
Station officer Allison, who travelled to Japan as part of Australia's UN-accredited Urban Search and Rescue Taskforce, quickly realised he wouldn't be recovering any still-breathing bodies.
"But the bodies we recovered meant so much to the local people. The Japanese are so traditional," Mr Allison said.
On the taskforce's final day, the team noticed a distraught couple outside a two-storey shop where the entire ground floor was filled with debris.
Their parents and their child were inside, the couple told rescuers.
"We called in all our teams and just said, let's go hard at this. We pulled out everything we could, just hand-over-hand."
The stricken relatives were never found. But the search did uncover a traditional wedding kimono that had been in the family for centuries - and a remarkably untainted photo album showing the generations that had worn the prized garment.
"They were crying with happiness.
"In the end we were able to leave not having recovered the family member they were looking for ... but something that would live on for many generations to come," Mr Allison said.
He believed the missing family members had been swept away.
After a 33-year career, the veteran firefighter will today be named one of three recipients of the prestigious Australian Fire Service Medal.
The award recognised Mr Allison's efforts in international locations including Japan and Banda Aceh, as well as his efforts in countless rescues at home.
He has been directly responsible for introducing new techniques and equipment that have improved the way rescues are carried out in NSW, and played a key role in developing the Holton Foot, a device to stabilise vehicles while rescuers are working on a person.
He is also the primary instructor of the technical rope rescue course delivered to the Australian Army, and has performed complex and dangerous rescues as a crewman on the Westpac rescue helicopter.
Mr Allison is looking forward to sharing the honour with his wife Nicole and daughter Jessica, 19.
The TV was on at the family's Bulli home, playing footage of the Japan disaster, when he answered the phone back in 2011.
After hanging up, he told Nicole, "I'm going."
"Where?" she asked.
He pointed at the TV. "I'm leaving in half an hour, see you in two weeks," he told her.
"It's really tough on the family sometimes," he said.
"We couldn't do it without the support of our families."