By BESS ZEWDIE
COCKATOO resident Clint Mark is one of 21 new career firefighters stationed at the Morwell Fire Brigade this month.
The 33-year-old former landscaper is joining a network of 685 career firefighters and 55,000 volunteers across Victoria as part of the Country Fire Authority (CFA).
Mark said he believed the CFA would provide him the perfect opportunity to have a positive impact in his local community.
“It’s something I’ve thought about my whole life,” he said.
“I became a firefighter just to be a bit more involved with community work as part of a close-knit team.
“Before joining the CFA, I didn’t know too much about the organisation – part of the application required us to do a fair bit of research into the organisation, various incidents they are involved with and other agencies they work with.”
Mark said the big move from self-employed landscaper to firefighter had proved to be very refreshing, but not without its challenges.
“The most rewarding thing about being at recruit training is just seeing so many people come from different backgrounds and work efficiently as part of a team, and just developing a heap of new skills,” he said.
“I think the toughest part about being a firefighter for me would be the shift work and just the change of routine that will mean for our family, and also attending traumatic situations and being confronted with that.”
Although landscaping may seem a far-stretch, Mark says his background provides him with some much-needed skills to flourish as a firefighter.
“Running my own business means that I’ve got to be organised and have the ability to lead groups and communicate with a lot of different people, so I’m looking forward to bringing some of that life experience into a new line of work.”
