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Rocksberg Moorina Rural Fire Station are holding an open day Saturday, 20 July from 10am (watch the video and see the flyer below).
Along with food and entertainment for the whole family, there will be fire demonstrations and information on the ‘Cool Burn’ operation underway.
Fire Officer, Steven Purdie explained why those from the community should attend this event.
“So, it’s more to do with getting to know the local brigade around here,” Officer Purdie said in the video above.
“Learning about Operation Cool Burn that’s currently happening within the area, and learning about what you can do to prepare your property for a fire, or your own fire that you might want to burn off.
Fire Officer, Matt Poor further explained what the community can expect when attending the open day event.
“So, we’re going to have live fire demonstrations,” Officer Poor explained.
“You’ll be able to talk to myself and the other firefighters about fire mitigation for your property, and there’s lots of things for the kids to do as well.
“So we’ve got a jumping castle, we’ve invited our local SES Group to come down, they’re going to have a display here, along with the Queensland Police and also the Ambulance Service.”
You will also meet the local rural fire volunteers at this event and be able to find out how you can get involved in the rural fire brigade.
Press Conference Transcript
Matt: So, on the 20th of July we have our annual Open Day and we’d love for you to come along.
Interviewer: And why would that be Steve?
Steve: So, it’s more to do with getting to know the local brigade around here. Learning about Operation Cool Burn that’s currently happening within the area, and learning about what you can do to prepare your property for a fire, or your own fire that you might want to burn off.
Matt: And the upcoming fire season.
Interviewer: Awesome Matt so, for those people that come along for that event, what can they expect?
Matt: So, we’re going to have live fire demonstrations. You’ll be able to talk to myself and the other firefighters about fire mitigation for your property, and there’s lots of things for the kids to do as well. So we’ve got a jumping castle, we’ve invited our local SES Group to come down, they’re going to have a display here, along with the Queensland Police and also the Ambulance Service.
Interviewer: So Steve, for this region here, why is it important to have a good, strong, active rural fire brigade?
Steve: It’s something that, especially for our region, we might not do a lot within our own area but, it’s more to do with we might go out and help other disaster areas like Townsville and lots of other places like that. So that’s what we want to see, a lot more action around, not only what we can do within our area but with the other area as well.
Interviewer: Also for the Rural Fire Brigade, can actually do a lot of things outside the area. Is there any advice that you could give to the community in relation to “that’s great, the fuel light might be there but it’s fairly wet at the moment so it’s not a huge risk”? Should they be doing something now, getting ready for that fire season?
Matt: Absolutely, so now’s the time to do your … prepare for fire season, perfect time now. So slash your fire breaks or clear up around your properties. A big thing is to make sure that the fire brigade has access to your property, so make sure your gate’s wide enough and things like that.
Interviewer: Steve, for the volunteers, and that’s what they are. They turn up here, they give their time to the community. What do you generally find is the motivation for them to come along and be involved in this?
Steve: To be honest, probably our brigade in particular, we’ve got a really good culture within our brigade so it’s not so much you come in here, you’re training, you’re not out in the cold kind of thing. It is cold, don’t get me wrong at the moment, but it’s more you’re out with your bunch of mates, whether it be your best friend, or whether it be someone you haven’t met yet. It’s about that comradery and learning new skills, and not only within just the fire sort of things but personal skills as well.
Interviewer: Yeah so Matt, in line with that, what have you got out of being involved in the Rural Fire Brigade out here?
Matt: So, apart from a bunch of new friends, we consider ourselves down here a family so it’s like an extended family for us. We hang out after hours well, if you could call it after hours, but socialise together as well. As well as the stuff we do here at the brigade, so yeah.
Interviewer: And what about skills? Are there skills that you can gain by joining the Rural Fire Brigade, that may even help you in maybe employment or around your own property, things like chainsaws and stuff like that?
Matt: Absolutely, so we do a wide range of internal training but we also do training that’s nationally recognised. So you could possibly take that on to further your career and things like that.
Interviewer: Yeah, any last words as far as maybe encouraging the community to get involved in the Rural Fire Brigade? It may not be so much coming down here, they may not be fit and healthy to do that, but how are some of the other ways they can maybe support their local Rural Fire Brigade?
Steve: It’s as easy as come down and have a chat. So we train every Thursday night, seven o’clock. Come down have a chat, you don’t have to be part of the brigade to come down and learn about how you can prepare your own property or what you can do to help out. We do lots of fundraising in the area. Come down and have a chat about what we do and how you can get yourself sorted for the open fire season.
Interviewer: Yeah, brilliant Matt. So, what time can people come down for that Open Day?
Matt: The Open Day’s from 10:00 til 2:00 and we’ll be here obviously the whole time. Yeah, and it’s that too, and it’s … just back on the community thing, so the brigade can assist our local landowners in preparing their properties for fire season through fire mitigation or back burning so, that’s a big part of what we do as well. So we can go and help our local landowners to back burn and clear vegetation and things like that.
