The awards were presented on the weekend when the Leeton VRA Rescue Squad played host to VRA Rescue NSW Captains from across the region.

Squad Captains and executive members that form the southern region from Albury, Batlow, Binalong, Coleambally, Corowa, Deniliquin, Narrandera and Leeton spent Saturday discussing recent rescue incidents, new equipment, training, funding and new capabilities that have been introduced across the state.

"This was the first face-to-face meeting of the Captains due to an interrupted couple of years with the pandemic forcing (these functions) and travel to be kept to a minimum," Leeton VRA Rescue Squad president Paul Smith said.

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The VRA Rescue Commissioner Mark Gibson was also in attendance for the weekend in town, along with Leeton Shire Council mayor Tony Reneker and Leeton Inspector Justin Cornes from the NSW Police Force.

Four Leeton members were presented with the National Emergency Medal for services rendered during the 2019-2020 black summer bushfires.

Simon Ingram, Glen Hehir, Glenn Newman and Mr Smith received the special medals for their work at the Dunn's Road and the Border/Big Jack Mountain fires.

"All squads reported a busier thank usual year in their respective areas," Mr Smith said.

"There was a total of 437 jobs carried out throughout the region since August last year.

"The VRA, as a whole, carried out 4332 incident responses and contributed 25,734 operational hours throughout the state.

"Leeton squad remained reasonably active with a total of 43 jobs attended ranging from motor vehicle collisions and inland water recoveries to assisting ambulance and police and numerous animal calls.

"We are still on the lookout for new members to join the squad and are happy to reveal a new heavy rescue truck will be arriving by the end of the year for Leeton thanks to a funding commitment through the NSW government."

Anyone interested in joining the VRA can contact 1300 872 777 or visit https://www.rescue.org.au/.

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