Dayleford Fire Brigade’s Kayla Manning is the sole regional Victorian representative on the CFA’s youth council… and loving it by all accounts.

Last year, the Good Friday Appeal (GFA) took a significant step by establishing the youth council to actively participate in the planning process and to better engage with young individuals, shaping the future of the appeal.

The GFA team collaborated with CFA to nominate a CFA representative aged between 16 and 26 years old to contribute to the council.

Kayla Manning, a dedicated youth volunteer from CFA District 15 and a member of Daylesford Fire Brigade, expressed interest and was selected for her exceptional commitment to youth initiatives in CFA and her local community.

Among the 10 members of the youth council, Kayla now stands as the sole representative from regional Victoria.

“I’m excited about the opportunity and the potential to provide a youth perspective and encourage greater youth involvement in the appeal’s activities,” Kayla said.

She also noted the benefit to CFA, seeing it as an opportunity to bring back valuable insights to CFA and explore ways of how brigades can support the appeal all year round.

The council has already convened several times, contributing ideas such as the design of new fundraising pins to be sold during the 2024 Kids Day Out event at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Good Friday.

Another exciting achievement was the suggestion to invite Bounce, a youth-centric trampoline centre, to support the appeal.

The proposal was discussed at a meeting and confirmed by Bounce, resulting in Bounce pledging to donate all proceeds from ticket sales on Good Friday to the appeal.

“It was amazing to see such a quick transformation of ideas into tangible fundraising opportunities geared towards youth,” Kayla said. “It was very rewarding”.

This year Kayla and other members of the youth council were at the Good Friday Appeal Kids Day Out event, selling the Good Friday Appeal pins and volunteering to count donations.

“I am really excited, I have always collected with my brigade but this year I will be able to help out in a different way,” Kayla said.

Following this year’s recent Good Friday Appeal, the youth council will now meet again to review the appeal and look at how it can have a positive impact on future appeals.

Daylesford and Hepburn brigade members have met with CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan in recent days to highlight the importance of road crash rescue brigades and the vital work they do in the community.

This comes just four months after members attended a horrific incident where five people were killed outside a Daylesford pub.   

Recently the brigades did a road crash rescue demonstration, the extraction of a patient, and stepped the CFA Chief Officer through the process.  

Daylesford Fire Brigade Captain Glenn Webster said having a rescue unit adds a lot of pressure. 

“We do a lot of training, last month the brigade turned out to six serious car accidents, far more than usual,” he said. 

“Some years are busier than others. We have had a particularly busy year due to potholes in the road that have caused some driver distraction.” 

Speaking about the events of 5 November 2023, Glenn said they don’t generally train for mass casualty events like that one.   

“I was the officer in charge and tasked the team to split up, find someone who was conscious or was at least breathing and stay with them and keep them alive. Do what they could until more paramedics arrived. The team performed amazingly.” 

He said the days after were extremely difficult. 

“The team was wonderful. They attended public vigils, they attended church services, they held each other up. They held me up when I was struggling. I couldn’t ask for a better response from the brigade. They were amazing.” 

And the community rallied, even leaving the brigade flowers at the station and cooking for them.  

“It did take a while for the shock and pain to start to settle down, but I think the community is pretty much back to where it should be now.” 

Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said rescue units play a vital part in keeping Victorians safe. 

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of road crashes and fatalities in Victoria. We are fortunate to have such dedicated rescue units like Daylesford, volunteers available day and night, to render assistance to anyone in a road crash,” he said. 

“I feel safe in the knowledge we have some of the best trained rescue operatives in this state should we ever need them.” 

CO Heffernan said he wanted to meet up with the brigades to share his gratitude for the hard work and dedication they perform for the community.  

“I also wanted to recognise the horrific accident that happened in the town that touched so many in the community. 

“The members have been doing it tough. It’s an opportunity for me to come along and say thank you on behalf of the community and also listen to them and continue to support them in their recovery.” 

The CFA has 21 road crash rescue brigades including Daylesford.

THE value of forking out a cool $100,000 or so to upgrade the Daylesford CFA rescue truck was well demonstrated in recent days. When the truck was called in to help free a man trapped in a crushed utility following a head-on collision near Glenlyon, the new addition of battery power to run its critical lifesaving equipment proved a massive help, members of the volunteer brigade say.

“Our rescue truck has had a complete workover and the ‘jaws of life’ have all been changed from hydraulic powered to battery power, which helps tremendously at a rescue, not having trailing hoses,” brigade secretary and treasurer Paul Anderson says.

“We do still have hydraulics on board but it’s been significantly boosted by also having battery power for our spreaders, cutters, rams and lights, which are now all battery powered,” adds the brigade’s Glenn Webster. “It makes it a lot easier at a rescue scene so it’s a big step forward,” says Glenn, training coordinator for both the Daylesford Brigade and Glenlyon Group of brigades of which it’s a part.

“A few weeks ago we had a very serious crash just out of Glenlyon, truck versus ute, and we were able to use both the battery operated tools and the hydraulics. “It was a technically involved rescue, and it was very comforting to have both.”

Glenn says the Daylesford CFA rescue truck is called on to cover a large area, and now 19 of the brigade’s 50 volunteer members are trained up as qualified rescue members.

“Glenn has been instrumental in the training of the crew, who now would be one of the best equipped and most professional in Victoria,” Paul says.

While the battery power enhancement of the rescue truck was funded via the state’s fire services levy scheme, Paul says the eight CFA brigades of the Glenlyon Group are also very grateful for the fundraising support of Daylesford cafe, Cliffy’s.

“Cliffy’s year ran their 2021 Christmas coffee morning again which raised over $17,000 which was split this year among the eight local brigades, who were then able to purchase essential equipment,” he says. The money, which Glenn notes has been spent on vital items like UHF radio, is a great help ahead of the new fire season.

“We’re expecting at this stage that the declaration of the fire danger period may be a little later than most years,” he says. The wet La Niña conditions are more conducive to creating grassfires as distinct from forest fires and they’re also hoped to make for a potentially “quieter” fire season overall.

Words: Eve Lamb | Images: Kyle Barnes