Firefighters at Yackandandah are bucking the trend of aging brigades in the North East – eight of the town’s 45 active volunteers are aged under 30.
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Put them together on the same job and their youthful exuberance is clear as they manage to have a laugh, while still completing their important work on the fireground.
Brigade captain Cameron McKern really noticed his unique crew during the Tangambalanga fire on New Year’s Day, when a seven-member relief crew came in for the night shift and six were in their 20s.
“It was a proud moment for me as captain,” he said.
“We’ve always had a really active junior fire brigade and they’ve come back as adults.”
But just because they are young, does not mean they are inexperienced.
Lauren Padbury, Andrew Padbury and Neil Burbridge all had more than a decade of experience after growing up around the CFA with firefighter parents, then joining themselves as young juniors.
Their physical fitness was a bonus.
“The young ones can keep going for the 12 hours (sometimes required during a shift at a serious fire),” Mr McKern said.
Ms Padbury was crew leader at the Tangambalanga fire and regularly took on the responsibility of radioing the CFA’s communication base in Ballarat.
“It was probably the most fun crew I’ve ever been on,” she said.
“It would be a long shift if we weren’t laughing.”
Their light-hearted attitude has won the praise of their captain, who said he was likely to step down from the top role in 2017, after holding it for nearly 10 years.
“It’s a really nice feeling to see there’s a good group and it’ll be nice to step down and let the next captain inherit a great young crew,” Mr McKern said.
But Yackandandah was not without its stalwarts: John McIntyre remained heavily involved in the brigade as its oldest member and Rob Schmidt was presented with his 50-year service medal in January.
Jess Padbury, one of the under-30 crew, said the younger volunteers were grateful to have that experience to call on for advice.
The questions were welcomed by Mr McIntyre, who said succession planning was important for all fire brigades.
Mr McKern said the willingness of young people to get involved in organisations such as the CFA was reflective of attitudes across the town.
“There is something about the community here in Yackandandah, people enjoy volunteering,” he said.
“In Yackandandah we look at the volunteer numbers each year and it’s looking good.”