Todd Russell was known nationally as a survivor, but his community has known him for much longer as a dedicated volunteer firefighter.
Russell, who along with fellow miner Brant Webb, endured two weeks trapped underground in 2006 after a rockfall at the gold mine they were working in, died yesterday.
Tasmania Fire Service district officer Anthony Goss said Russell's legacy "will be carried forward for generations".
Todd Russell will be remembered around Australia as a survivor and a beacon of courage, but within the walls of the Beaconsfield Fire Brigade in Tasmania he will always be known as one of their own.
Russell died this week aged 54, days after leaving hospital to be with family, and 20 years since becoming internationally famous as a survivor of the Beaconsfield mine disaster.
He and fellow miner Brant Webb were trapped underground for two weeks in 2006 when the gold mine collapsed, killing their colleague Larry Knight.
At the time, Russell was already a long-serving Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) volunteer at the Beaconsfield brigade, which his grandfather had founded more than half a century beforehand.
He retired as the brigade's chief in February this year.
Outside the Beaconsfield brigade on Tuesday, TFS District Officer Anthony Goss honoured Russell's life and legacy.
