Rural Fire Service (RFS) brigades in the Bundaberg Region are calling for more volunteers to join the service as they face an active fire season in what the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted to be a dry, hot spring.
The fire season officially started at the beginning of August and already RFS crews have been battling fires across the region, from Doughboy in the region’s west through to Innes Park on the coast.
Calavos Rural Fire Brigade Acting First Officer Darren Nelson said all brigades in the region were looking for new members.
“Being a volunteer service we're here to participate in the community, so active membership is quite vital for these brigades in all districts of Queensland,” Darren said.
“We've actually seen just a bit of a decline over the last 12 months with economic circumstances of people volunteering, there's been a lot more going on in people's lives, so they're finding it a little bit harder to have the time to volunteer.”
Darren said having new members join the brigades would make a big difference to the existing crews.
“As a brigade, it will definitely take a lot more off people continually responding night after night, sharing the workload around,” he said.
Local Disaster Management Group Chair Mayor Jack Dempsey said RFS volunteers were essential to the region’s capacity to respond to disaster emergencies.
“The Rural Fire Service volunteers are dedicated to the safety of the region and provide an absolutely critical role in protecting the community,” he said.
“I would encourage anyone who is interested in volunteering to reach out to their local brigade and express their interest.
“Without dedicated volunteers, the service cannot operate.”
The RFS relies on its 28,000 volunteers across Queensland to provide essential firefighting services, as well as undertaking a wide range of services in the community such as hazard prevention, issuing permits, disaster management response and recovery, and community education and engagement.
Darren said new volunteers in the region would be trained free of charge out of the Bundaberg office and once trained could take part in a range of activities the service provides for the community.
“We've got community engagements, hazard reduction burns, obviously emergency response sequences as well,” he said.
“There's a big wealth of stuff that they can do within the service.
“It's always an open teamwork and community effort, the focus always is put on the community safety.”
Volunteers interested in joining a Rural Fire Brigade can find their local brigade through the QFES website’s interactive map.
Local brigades will provide prospective volunteers with a Volunteer Application Pack with further information.
Volunteers must be at least 16 years old, undertake a criminal history check, and obtain a Blue Card prior to joining.
It can take up to 8-12 weeks for applications to be finalised.
Good afternoon,
I am a semi-retiree who would like to be involved in the community. I live in Bargara and am currently employed in the Mental Health arena via Telehealth (phone & video).
I am of senior years 71 and still very fit and active.
If there is a role I could play just let me know.
Many thanks
Meg
Meg, you could always join a local Rural brigade as a support person. Your skills would be greatly appreciated, I am sure.