Firies keen to teach next generation

BRIGADES across Victoria have signed up to take part in the CFA’s Junior Volunteer Development Program, with firies from Smythesdale and surrounds now joining in the initiative.

Open to children aged between 11 and 15, the campaign is aimed at boosting interest in volunteer firefighting among the state’s young people.

Smythesdale Fire Brigade’s Lieutenant Damian Merrett will be one of the junior coordinators and said the program will teach young people a range of additional skills.

“A lot of it’s about community engagement,” he said. “They do get to learn a lot of the basics of firefighting but a lot of it’s about building the people skills and group skills.

“We’ll be encouraging them as well to come down to community events and our barbecue we do at the supermarket once a month on a Saturday.

“There’s a few other brigades in the area running this but they only have one or two juniors and some are actually interested in joining ours to build those numbers, Skipton for example.

“We’ve got four juniors interested and we’re looking to get about 10 to 12.”

Beginning in October, the brigade’s volunteers will host their juniors session on the third Thursday of every month.

The Smythesdale brigade has more than 60 volunteers, 40 of whom are non-operational, with ages ranging between 18 to 80s.

With the majority of members aged between their 30s to 50s, Lieutenant Merrett said he’d like to see younger members joining the team.

“We’ve got about four people aged up to 25, and it’s been a real struggle to recruit in that demographic,” he said.

“That’s part of the reason we joined this program was to start with kids at a younger age, let them see what it is before they get to the age where they can be operational with us.

“There’s no cutoff date for the juniors program. It’ll be an ongoing thing.”

To express interest in joining the program, visit the CFA’s website.