Popanyinning farmer Tim Haslam serves as the face of burns education in emotional DFES Lived Experience videoHannah WhiteheadNarrogin ObserverThu, 13 November 2025 4:00PMEmail Hannah Whitehead
Popanyinning farmer and critical burns survivor Tim Haslam was brought to tears during the re-telling of his family’s harvest fire tragedy for the regional emergency services’ latest endeavour to promote fire safety.
About 60 people gathered at Thomas Hogg Oval in Narrogin on Sunday from across the Great Southern and Perth to be the first to watch the three-part short video series, DFES Lived Experience Resource Pilot Project.
Mr Haslam said after surviving such severe burns, he used his second chance to team up with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services a year ago to film and help advocate for fire awareness.
DFES will present the series during events and training sessions.
In the videos, Mr Haslam focuses on the critical errors he made during the 2023 bushfire that nearly cost him his life.
He said despite being taught fire safety from a young age and attending fires in the area as a volunteer firefighter, when at the centre of an un-controlled harvest fire, he still made several near-fatal mistakes.
Ms Haslam said he hoped to encourage people to truly consider what they would do when in the middle of a fire, because although he had safety knowledge, he found he was unprepared and panic-stricken when the flames sparked.
“If something good can come out of something bad, then that’s good,” he said.
Tragedy struck the Haslam family on December 20, 2023 when a fire started on their property, Coogabbie farm.
Mr Haslam said his first thought was “I got to get out of here”, and the panicked idea was the catalyst to subsequent critical oversights.
The then 65-year-old ran from his header to his nearby ute, which had a flat tire and became bogged when he tried to drive away.
Mr Haslam left his ute and planned to run from the blaze, but tripped in the barley stubble and fell directly into the fire.
Wearing only a T-shirt and shorts, Mr Haslam suffered severe burns on his hands, arms, face, and legs.
He also lost his boot during the fall, meaning his foot was uncovered when standing in the fire.
Mr Haslam was rescued by his farmhand who noticed him in a smoke clearing.
He was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth by rescue helicopter, where he spent 10 days in intensive care unit — seven of them in a coma — with 38 per cent of his body severely burnt.
Hospitalised for four months, Mr Haslam underwent 13 operations.
He lost the ends of his fingers. His finger joints and the corners of his mouth are webbed together.
He also struggles to walk, and said his abdomen was a “patchwork” of skin grafts.
Mr Haslam said the most important safety measure was to “stop and think”.
“I’ve been around fires all my life and I still made these mistakes,” he said.
“PPE, think for a couple of seconds to assess the situation, and whatever you do, don’t get out of your gear or vehicle because I could have also been run over in the smoke.
“If you get out of your vehicle I can almost positively tell you you’re going to perish. If you stay in your vehicle I can almost guarantee you you’re going to live.”
Mr Haslam noted if in an unharvested paddock, a vehicle will burn, so it is critical to extinguish, wet, or harvest the area around the vehicle to make a safer circle of stubble.
In the video, his wife Sally said they were lucky to have an outdoor shower because her husband was immediately put under cold water while waiting for emergency services — a move she said was pivotal to his survival.
Ms Haslam said since he was not wearing protective clothes and had none on hand, DFES volunteers had to clean the burnt skin from the paddock, so it was important always to have personal protective equipment to hand.
Mr Haslam also urged farmers to think of the impact a fire would have on their families, as all their lives were changed in an instant.
Mr Haslam said his empty work diary meant his son had nothing to go off when suddenly bearing the brunt of the entire farm business.
His wife had to move to Perth and become his primary carer throughout his recovery.
“It was harder for them than for me because I was in a coma and whacked out on drugs, but my family had to actually live it,” he said.
Mr Haslam said his family’s support was “extraordinary”.
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