{"id":111090,"date":"2026-01-31T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?p=111090"},"modified":"2026-01-30T15:29:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T04:29:47","slug":"fire-brigade-welcomes-new-recruits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/fire-brigade-welcomes-new-recruits\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire brigade welcomes new recruits"},"content":{"rendered":"

HEATHCOTE Fire Brigade recently welcomed two new recruits, bringing the number of operational firefighters to 32.<\/p>\n

Volunteers Robert Lowe and Taylor Stenson will be much appreciated as the hot weather continues.<\/p>\n

“It is always great to welcome new members,” brigade community safety coordinator Evan Pritchard said.<\/p>\n

“We have a total of 52 volunteers in the brigade with 17 non-operational and five juniors.”<\/p>\n

The brigade responded to 98 callouts in 2025.<\/p>\n

“This included 51 bushfires and nine building fires,” Mr Pritchard said.<\/p>\n

“Brigade members also attended 21 vehicle incidents, one HAZMAT incident, three other incidents, and there were 13 false alarms.<\/p>\n

“It is great to have a committed team ready for emergencies and new recruits are always welcome.<\/p>\n

“Anyone interested can contact me on 0417 178 658 or recruitment officer Peter Duncan on 0417 559 236.”<\/p>\n

The brigade offers property advice visits for residents who need assistance on how they can better prepare their properties.<\/p>\n

The visits are a free service and are open to all residents.<\/p>\n

Contact Mr Pritchard to book an appointment.<\/p>\n

Bushfire planning and property preparation tips are all available on the CFA website at cfa.vic.gov.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HEATHCOTE Fire Brigade recently welcomed two new recruits, bringing the number of operational firefighters to 32. Volunteers Robert Lowe and Taylor Stenson will be much appreciated as the hot weather continues. “It is always great to welcome new members,” brigade community safety coordinator Evan Pritchard said. “We have a total of 52 volunteers in the […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215,"featured_media":98656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-111090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFire brigade welcomes new recruits - Bendigo Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Heathcote Fire Brigade welcomes new recruits Robert Lowe and Taylor Stenson, boosting operational firefighters to 32 amid hot summer conditions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/fire-brigade-welcomes-new-recruits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fire brigade welcomes new recruits - 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