By Parker McKenzie
Ahead of new fire restrictions on 30 January and the expectation of a scorching 2023 and 2024, Upper Ferntree Gully CFA Captain Peter Smith is calling for members of the community to bolster the brigades’ membership.
Mr Smith said he has lost 13 members of his brigade to a ‘tree change’ recently, although none have left the CFA completely, instead joining their new local brigades.
“They are in the top bracket in the brigade — from lieutenants to six crew leaders — which makes it difficult to replace them,” he said.
“But I’ve got to keep to keep pushing people through; we don’t have many younger people in the brigade because Upper Gully is an older area.”
The brigade currently has around 30 volunteer members, but Mr Smith said he would like to see those numbers grow to around 50.
“My goal has always been 50 operational members because not everyone is available all the time and you have to respect that,” he said.
“Everyone has a family life and other things to do; even I do as much as people would find that hard to believe.”
Fire restrictions in Upper Ferntree Gully will come into effect on Monday 30 January with the world entering a period of warming due to weather cycles.
Mr Smith said many people who have recently moved to the area aren’t aware of the fire risk of the surrounding areas.
“The last couple of year people wouldn’t even know the risk, but the last few days with the hot weather coming back they’ve started to become more aware of it,” he said.
“Everything is drying out and everybody’s having a bit of a panic attack. All of a sudden we become more relevant than we were two years ago.”
2023 and 2024 are expected to be hot years because of climate change and the El Nino weather pattern’s warming effect, after three years of the colder La Nina.
Mr Smith is particularly interested in talking to and recruiting younger members from the community and said the CFA is a valuable place to learn new skills.
“The camaraderie around the place is brilliant and we’re a very family-orientated brigade,” he said.
“It’s a great mob of people and the diversity we have in the brigade, it’s like we are the United Nations.”
Anyone interested in joining the Upper Ferntree Gully CFA should contact Captain Peter Smith at 0438 330 361 or at captain@uftgfirebrigade.org.au
