Wedding bells ring in station

FROM TURNING OUT TO TYING THE KNOT

In early March 2020, wedding bells replaced brigade sirens at Mirboo North Fire Station when brigade members Andrew Salinger and Amie van Antwerpen held their wedding reception at the station. Andrew has been a CFA member for more than 13 years and Amie joined the brigade in 2019 shortly after moving into the area from South Australia. They both joined the brigade because they wanted to support their community. “I remember first wanting to join CFA when I was 14 years old,” Andrew said. “I joined the brigade as soon as I could and haven’t looked back.” Andrew and Amie are both firefighters and have attended several incidents together, including deployments to New South Wales last summer. “It’s nice knowing she’s on the truck with me,” Andrew said. “Although sometimes it has its challenges, it’s nice to be able to come home together and talk about the incident.” The couple tied the knot down the road at Mossvale Park and then held their wedding reception at the fire station. “CFA is who we are,” Andrew added. “The brigade is our second family and it was great to be able to celebrate at the station.” Members made sure brigade equipment was accessible in the case of an emergency, but fortunately no call-outs were made during the celebration. “We were thinking of places we could hold the reception and the station was our first choice,” Andrew said. “We managed to get some amazing photos of the wedding party with the fire trucks. Who can say they’ve done that?” 50

Andrew and Amie started their honeymoon travelling around Victoria before finding out they had been successful in securing a place on the Sydney Royal Caribbean Cruise. The cruise was free for CFA members as a thank you for their enormous efforts in the recent bushfires. “We’re looking forward to more memories in the brigade as Mr and Mrs Salinger.”

Jodie stands tall during New South Wales fires

More than 2,200 CFA members sacrificed their time to support New South Wales emergency services between October and December 2019 during the devastating bushfires. Diamond Creek volunteer Jodie Harris was happy to lend a hand on three occasions. The 19-year-old was balancing two jobs and studying online when she decided to drop it all for a total of 15 days to help NSW communities. During her first deployment in early November, Jodie flew to Armidale at Glen Innes Base Camp where she helped to consolidate containment lines and carry out back burning at the Kangawalla fire under the supervision of NSW RFS members. “It was a huge eye-opening experience,” Jodie said. “It was my first interstate longhaul strike team and I was fortunate to be deployed with Diamond Creek brigade Captain Peter Clarkson and Plenty brigade member Ash Bray who made me feel comfortable about taking on this new experience. She said she always tries to take on new experiences with CFA and so leapt at the opportunity to help interstate. “I was doing a lot of different activities that I hadn’t done before back home, so it was incredibly rewarding to travel to a new place and help others in their time of need. “I met a range of people with different levels of experience who gave me guidance and the confidence to be an active participant in the firefighting efforts.” Jodie joined Diamond Creek brigade as a Junior member and has been an operational firefighter for the past three years. In her second deployment Jodie went to Coffs Harbour before travelling to Grafton in late November. She stayed in a tent at Grafton Showgrounds while she was involved in back burning and blacking out efforts at the Myall Creek fire. In early December she made her third trip north to the Braidwood area where she spent three days battling tough weather conditions. She carried out a large amount of back-burning and control line works at the Braidwood fire, about 40 kilometres north-west of Batemans Bay. Back at her brigade Jodie spends some of her time helping Diamond Creek’s Junior members become tomorrow’s firefighters. “I would encourage anyone who’s thought of doing any volunteering in the community to consider giving it a go because there are many new learning experiences that develop you as a person,” she said. “You become part of a team of like-minded people who work together like a family and you might end up loving it. “There are so many capable people out there who would make great CFA members and would absolutely love being a part of such a supportive community. “My time with CFA has helped me to gain important life experience and a unique range of job-related skills. Not only have I developed independence and communication skills, but my role in CFA has allowed me to work effectively as part of a team to achieve common goals.”