General News
9 August, 2022
Future safety needs volunteers
VOLUNTEER veteran Reg Holt fears for future response times unless more people join local emergency service organisations. The Wedderburn State Emergency Service deputy controller has been with the SES for more than 30 years and spent almost as long...
VOLUNTEER veteran Reg Holt fears for future response times unless more people join local emergency service organisations.
The Wedderburn State Emergency Service deputy controller has been with the SES for more than 30 years and spent almost as long with the town’s fire brigade before devoting himself to the SES.
“We have some wonderful and amazing volunteers in the SES and fire brigade but there are just not enough and numbers are really thin,” Mr Holt said.
“If your house is burning down or you are trapped in a car, don’t one day ask where is the CFA or SES and expect them to be there.
“The dire shortage of volunteers facing local emergency service organisations in town is not pretend anymore.”
Mr Holt’s call for residents to step up comes after an on-going recruitment campaign by the SES unit over the last 12 months and the resignation of fire brigade captain Anne Hassell after she was stood down from active duties following diagnosis as a type one diabetic.
Ms Hassell said the brigade had been left with barely a handful of active volunteers to respond to fire calls.
Mr Holt was a key officer in the Wedderburn rural and urban brigades during his CFA volunteer career and feels more local people could contribute to keeping the town’s emergency service organisations viable.
“Our SES unit has recruited a couple of new volunteers who are also in district fire brigades,” he said.
“That shows the commitment to keeping our people and communities safe by just a few people,
“But it’s unfair and unrealistic to place all the work on just a few people.
“We need our fire brigades and the SES unit to strengthen our communities and continue providing the responses that people expect and value.
“The safety of our communities depends on these organisations and volunteers.”
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