February 20th, 2022Your Say

Donna, your “Just Sayin’…” in The Local p18, Issue 246 was so on point.
As the new wife of a CFA volunteer of more than two decades, it has taken quite an adjustment to living life with a pager that might, at any moment, take my husband off to potentially step into the face of a raging bushfire or to face being on scene at a traffic or other accident.
To watch the Fire Rescue Victoria ad, suggesting that the only “professional” firefighters are paid ones, is an insult to my husband and all his volunteer colleagues in our local brigades.
Before I moved to the country, I had no real idea about how country towns managed fires and other incidents. Now I know that it takes the efforts of a bunch of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, without a pay packet in sight.
Thank you to every one of you.

• Helen van der Werff, Trentham

Great article! (Just Sayin’… Issue 246). When John and I first saw this ad we were both incensed, to use a polite term.
We are both members of the Trentham Fire Brigade, John as a fire-fighter and secretary, I am non-operational. The initial argy-bargy, as you politely described it, caused a lot of angst within the brigade and some of the community, with a real concern that some volunteer fighters would walk away.
The nuances then seemed that volunteers were lesser than the career firefighters, even suggestions of different doors to enter the fire station and the fire trucks, incident controllers, uniforms and other petty things.
And now this insulting ad. I guess some/all local brigade members are annoyed. This ad does not address rural areas – “ready for anything, guaranteed rapid response” – in Trentham and surrounds? Not likely?
I think the ad is misleading. And yes we all need to be ready for any emergency, it’s part of living in a rural and fire-prone area. Anyone see them during the storm rescue and clean-up? Sorry if it’s a bit of a rant and I did yell at the TV ad too.

• Bette McLaren, Trentham