FEATURE
STATEWIDE NEWS
FAMILY SUPPORT IS CRUCIAL Family and friends play a huge role in supporting CFA volunteers so that they can protect their communities. We talked to three volunteers about how their families help them. Stories by Holly Penketh
Brendan King, Maffra Fire Brigade Brendan King is the captain of Maffra Fire Brigade in District 10 and his family has been in CFA for many generations. “I first joined CFA when I was 16 years old,” Brendan said. “I was home-schooled so I wanted to get out in the community, learn things and volunteer. “I’ve now been with CFA for more than 25 years alongside my dad, brothers, partner and grandparents. “I’ve recently stepped into the captain role at Maffra and I really couldn’t have done it without the experience and support of my family,” he added. “My dad has previously been captain at Stratford and my brothers all hold different roles in the brigade management team, so I’m able to turn to them all for advice and bounce ideas off them.”
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“I first joined at Stratford and have moved to Ballarat, Sale, Plenty, Macalister, Riverslea and now Maffra. I may not still be in CFA if it wasn’t for that support and flexibility.” Brendan said it would be extremely hard to volunteer without family support. “You’ve got to have someone there to keep things going at home so you can do these things,” he said. “We go away on deployments where we could be away for days and this wouldn’t be possible with a family if you didn’t have someone to look after them.” Brendan also mentioned that support from employers is also important.
Since first joining in 1995 Brendan has been a member of seven brigades.
“There are a fair few members at the brigade whose employers are supportive of them turning out during the day. Call-outs don’t just happen after-hours, so this is vital to be able to respond and keep the community safe.
“The local brigades and captains were really supportive of me staying in CFA. I’ve moved around quite a lot for university and to be close to family, so being able to continue volunteering at CFA has been amazing.
“Whatever support a volunteer receives, it’s often behind closed doors and it’s sometimes something the community doesn’t think about. I know I couldn’t have stayed volunteering my whole life without it.”
