Since the 2019/20 Black Summer Bushfire Season, Regentville Rural Fire Brigade has welcomed 22 new members.
The 12 most recent have just been assessed in their Basic Bush Firefighter qualification and are hitting the ground running with the latest impacts of flooding in the Western Sydney area.
Firefighters Amelia, Isaiah, Brandon, Alex H, Michael, Thomas, Ainsley, Alex N, Lew, Abbey, Kai, and Jamie are all keen to continue learning and develop with the fast approaching “fire season”.
“I decided to join the RFS to experience new things and challenge myself in a welcoming team environment. Being able to help others in the community when they need it most is an honour and doing that with a team of dedicated and friendly members is an amazing opportunity” said recruit Isaiah.
“I have always wanted to join the RFS since I was a kid growing up and thought it was time to put myself out there and join the brigade to help my local community” added recruit Jamie.
To be deemed competent, the members had to undertake multiple training days and nights with the rest of the brigade and as a cohort. This included a theory assessment with a pass mark of 100% followed by a series of practical skills-based scenarios such as portable pumping skills, the use of hand tools to create fire breaks and trails, general firefighting, and truck maintenance duties as well as emergency overrun drills for in the event of the fire truck being stranded and surrounded by the impacts of fire.
“The course went very well! The trainers knew what they were teaching and explained it very efficiently and were easy to understand” explained recruit Amelia.
These crews are now able to attend a wide variety of incidents across the state (even interstate and internationally) with many of them having already done so within the week of being qualified.
“Some of the new members have been out assisting with road closures, evacuations and assisting the public with the current flood situation with most of them already putting their hands up to assist in the clean-up once all the water has gone” said Jordan Jobson of Regentville Rural Fire Brigade.
With these new members, Regentville now has a membership base of around 95 members including Life Members, Reserve Membership and Community Engagement Team with around 40 being active on the front lines when called upon.
Regentville RFB is always recruiting, particularly if you have Monday to Friday daytime availability. Visit NSW RFS – Regentville Brigade on Facebook to stay up to date with all their brigade activities and events.