Popanyinning farmer Tim Haslam is a valued member of our burn community and Chair of the Agribusiness Taskforce, where he leads The Farming Collective. This initiative brings growers together to support the Fiona Wood Foundation’s Horizon Campaign and strengthen burns care for regional Western Australia.
Tim draws on his own experience of recovering from a severe burn injury to inform his leadership and his commitment to supporting people in farming communities who face similar risks each harvest. On 20 December 2023, a harvest fire on his Coogabbie farm resulted in burns to 38 per cent of his body. He spent ten days in intensive care, seven in a coma, underwent thirteen operations and spent four months in hospital. During this time, his wife Sally supported him as his primary carer in Perth, while their son took on responsibility for running the farm at home.
In November 2025, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services launched the DFES Lived Experience Resource Pilot Project, featuring eight individual media clips that tell Tim Haslam’s story. Through these clips, Tim shares key safety messages that are practical and impactful. These include the importance of wearing personal protective equipment and taking the time to put it on before responding to a fire, the need to think clearly and make good decisions under pressure, and the critical importance of calling 000 immediately to help emergency services locate you quickly.
DFES will present the series at regional events and training sessions, and once the videos are publicly available, we will share them with our FWF community.
Tim’s involvement in the DFES project sits alongside his leadership of The Farming Collective, uniting growers to support burns research and care.
Through the Horizon Campaign, The Farming Collective invites growers to donate grain from the 2025 and 2026 harvests to the Foundation’s grower account, and or nominate the Foundation for the CBH Group overload scheme. This collective effort helps drive advances in treatment, prevention and recovery across Western Australia.
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