Rhett Burnie
FIFTEEN newly qualified volunteer fire fighters received a warm welcome at Wallan CFA on Saturday.
The new recruits, who are all from the local area, enjoyed a barbecue and visit from district MP Ben Hardman.
Brigade captain Peter Roylance said it was thrilling to see so many people join the brigade at the one time.
“Certainly this is one out of the box,” Captain Roylance said.
Wallan resident Neil Reid said he joined the fire brigade after seeing the devastation caused by Black Saturday.
“I’ve been talking about it for ages but Black Saturday was the catalyst,” he said.
Neil said he and the other recruits had attended quite a few call-outs since they became qualified.
“We had the floods, most of us did a bit through that Saturday when they hit,” he said.
Fellow recruit James Bennett said being a CFA volunteer provided a sense of self worth.
“It benefits the whole community,” he said.
James said the job was a “bit of an eye opener” and but the crew were trained to handle any situation.
“We have ongoing training too, and we pick up a lot of life skills,”
Both men said they had made some lifetime mates in the short time that they have been with the CFA.
