Dedicated brigade members rewarded

COIMADAI Fire Brigade recently hosted an awards night, celebrating members’ dedication to the group, service to the community, and their personal growth.

Captain Wayne Saliba said service awards ranged from five to 25 years, while Tony Wallach was named Firefighter of the Year, and Stewart Geerling won the Captain’s Award.

Daniel, Paul and Ray Chapman all received 10-year service awards, and Mr Saliba was recognised for his 25 years.

Mr Geerling was also presented with his five-year service award which he was unable to receive three years ago due to the pandemic.

“Stewart is dedicated and committed to the brigade, and he has stepped up and grown as a person and firefighter,” Mr Saliba said.

“The awards night went really well with about 25 to 30 members, partners and families attending.”

The brigade has roughly 15 active members and the captain said they are recruiting to grow their team.

“But, support from members has been great,” Mr Saliba said.

“We’re pretty active, averaging about 10 turnouts a month and we have fairly good numbers of members responding.

“Our call-outs are up, and it’s only going to get busier this summer.”