Jack – Childers Rural Fire Brigade, State Emergency Services, Fire and Rescue Auxiliary and PCYC Emergency Services Cadets Adult Leader
Jack – Childers Rural Fire Brigade, State Emergency Services, Fire and Rescue Auxiliary and PCYC Emergency Services Cadets Adult Leader
I have been a part of the Childers Rural Fire Brigade since 2009 when I joined as a 16-year-old in Year 11, though my connection really goes back to 2000, when my dad first joined the brigade. Since then both my mum and sister have also become members and I have been around the Fire Station since then. My mum is currently the treasurer of the brigade, and my dad has returned as the Fire Warden. I am currently the Second Officer and Training Officer of the brigade and am also the Deputy Fire Warden covering 3 Warden districts. I joined the State Emergency Service as a volunteer after the Bundaberg Floods in 2013, and that same year I also joined the PCYC Emergency Services Cadets as an Adult Leader when the Unit was being re-invigorated under the PCYC banner. In 2014, I joined the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service as an Auxiliary Firefighter at the Childers Station. I enjoy the sense of community that we get from volunteering our time, and the feeling of pride that we gain from being able to “do something” to help and assist our community in their hour of need. I like the feeling that our brigades/groups/units effectively become a second family to us, which is boosted by the sense of community spirit evoked when new members come into our ranks. This ‘coming together’ is further enhanced by being able to share the skills and knowledge that I have learnt over the years with them, to assist them in their development journey as well.
Warren – Black River and Districts Rural Fire Brigade
Warren – Black River and Districts Rural Fire Brigade
After 24 years serving with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, I moved to Townsville in 2005 and joined Black River and Districts Rural Fire Brigade. In my 18 years with the Black River Brigade I led them for 15 years as First Officer, and during that time I have had a wife and 3 daughters volunteer at my side. I have additionally served in the roles of Brigade Secretary, Group Officer, Trainer, and Brigade Training Support Officer and am an accredited Crew leader. In major incidents, I am a certified as a Level 2 Incident Controller and have volunteered to respond to deployment requests many times over the years. I was the inaugural Rural Fire Brigades Association Queensland (RFBAQ) representative for Townsville and am currently on the committee of the Queensland Division of the Australasian Institute of Emergency Services and serve on the board of the Australian Bushfire Management Association. I have volunteered my entire adult life and enjoy the opportunity to serve the community, especially when they are in a time of need and at their most vulnerable. I am a passionate advocate for our Emergency Services personnel and their commitment to keep our communities safe.
Wayne – Beerwah Rural Fire Brigade
Wayne – Beerwah Rural Fire Brigade
My commitment to the Rural Fire Service began on 23 October 2004 with Narangba Rural Fire brigade and now continues with Beerwah Rural Fire Brigade. My prime reason for beginning my Rural Fire journey was based on my family history within the Fire Service. My Grandfather was a full time Fire Officer based out of Kent Place in Brisbane during the 1970’s, whilst my Father-in-Law spent a total of 35 years in the New South Wales Fire Service, and I felt a strong urge to follow their example by becoming a volunteer at my local Rural Fire Brigade. My desire to help the community by being a member of the Rural Fire Service has seen me involved in many calls to respond over the last 19 years, and it is always with a sense of pride when I consider the instances that have arisen to assist in saving homes, businesses, and the neighbouring environment when they have been under threat from bushfire incidents. I have been fortunate to have the support and understanding of my family to underpin my volunteer activities and am also privileged to have had my wife Megan volunteering by my side with RFS for the last five years.
Hugh – Sugarloaf Rural Fire Brigade
Hugh – Sugarloaf Rural Fire Brigade
I joined the Rural Fire Service in 2014 after moving to the Southern Downs area. My work is involved in the welfare sector and during the Black Saturday fires in 2009 we were tasked with taking the overflow of 000 calls, which had a profound impact upon me. As a result, when I had the opportunity to join the Rural Fire Service and be there on the front line helping to make a difference, I took it. I originally joined the Gladfield Maryvale RFB though my work subsequently took me to Stanthorpe, and I also joined the Glen Aplin RFB as a dual member before making the decision to request a transfer to the Sugarloaf Rural Fire Brigade in 2023. My training from Firefighter to Crew leader progressed with the Gladfield Maryvale brigade before being nominated to the position of 3rd Officer, which occurred just prior to the Black Summer fires of 2019/2020. I took on leadership roles and gained a lot of experience across several states, certainly valuing the quality of the training I had received, particularly when I was deployed as part of 1 November Taskforce to the ACT and for which I was subsequently awarded the ACT Emergency Medal in 2023. I currently hold the position of 3rd Officer for Sugarloaf RFB and have been serving as the Deputy Group Officer for Training at the Stanthorpe RFS group since 2022. Alongside my brigade roles, in 2021 I was successful in my application to become part of the Remote Area Firefighting Team, which has proven as challenging as it is rewarding and has given me a new perspective of my own training and fitness. The quality of the training I had received motivated me to become a Brigade Training Officer and to develop training programs for the RFS Brigades I interact with, integrating the needed theory with hands on practical experience and then cementing that experience for members through exposure to real incidents. I am a big proponent of improved mental health provision for RFS volunteers and attended the Frontline Mental Health Conference in 2023 as a keynote speaker representing the RFS and was also a panelist for the Mindarma webinar series which provided mindfulness and wellbeing resources that were made readily available to volunteers.
Peter – Iona Rural Fire Brigade
Peter – Iona Rural Fire Brigade
I guess the foundation for why I began my volunteer commitment stems from my childhood, where I was brought up to hold the values of honesty and reliability and to always be considerate of others. This mindset was reinforced by the importance to always ‘look out’ for the less fortunate members of our community in their time of need. To my way of thinking, I don’t volunteer to gain recognition or to seek reward – my ‘payback’ is the sense of achievement I experience from the knowledge that the actions I and our brigade take has a positive outcome benefit for our community and my fellow citizens. I have been blessed to have been able to travel to different parts of the world, where I have seen both great riches in evidence, along with the sights of some of the poorest people on our earth. These experiences have given me a real appreciation of how good we have it generally as a nation, and that our lives and what we do with them is just so important. Being happy with our own lives and supporting each other to the best of our abilities in times of need, leads to a feeling that everyone has had ‘a win’ whatever the circumstances.