Churchill CFA - September 2024

Fire Safe Kids Program

The Fire Safe Kids team has been busy this past month delivering fire safety messages to our preschools and primary schools.

The preschoolers from the Churchill Hub came to the station where they learnt about the uniform the fire fighters wear, and why. They know that smoke alarms are very important especially while we are asleep as we cannot smell smoke while sleeping.

Calling Triple 000 in emergencies was also covered. The method of safely exiting a house when a smoke alarm goes off at night was demonstrated, then copied by the children enthusiastically. A walk outside in beautiful sunshine to see the truck, and its equipment followed.

To end the session the children had a chance to squirt a hose with the fire fighters help, pretending they were a fire fighter. Then the lights and siren were activated as the final item on the program. The teachers went back to the kinder with items to give the children.

The Child Care Centre children could not visit as they had a staff person off sick, so the team went to see them at the Hub. They will be coming to the station soon to do the truck visit.

Boolarra Primary School has not had a Fire Safe Kids visit that we know of before our daylong visit on August 22. We were welcomed and shown the facilities and invited to have a cuppa when we wanted. The staff were very welcoming and were enthusiastically involved as the lessons were given to each group before and after playtime. The children were very engaged with their lessons.

After lunch, two members of the Boolarra Fire Brigade came with their tanker trucks so the children could explore the equipment by finding the items listed on the cards and marked on pictures of the fire truck. There were lots of excited children doing their best to find the items, and staff willingly helping. To end their sessions, the children were allowed to squirt the hose and see the lights and hear the sirens.

This was a very important visit as the school and most of the pupil’s homes are situated in this fire prone area.

It was a happy visit to a delightful school set in beautiful well cared for grounds.

Christmas in August

On Tuesday August 26, a group of Federation University students and staff held a Christmas in August celebration. They were served a lovely meal and a surprise visit from Santa and his helpers from the Churchill Fire Brigade.

The students enjoyed some singing, and were entertained by an array of students and staff, and were very excited to be able to have their photo taken with Santa.

Churchill Shop Local

The brigade was again please to be able to attend the Churchill Shop Local event on Saturday August 24, providing some much loved barbequed sausages in bread to those in attendance. The brilliant weather ensured that there was a very good crowd in attendance, with many stallholders showing off and selling their wares.

Our firefighter Derek also used the opportunity to spread the word about his participation in the Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb on September 7. Derek joined other firefighters and emergency services personnel from across Australia to ascend the gruelling 28 Floors of the Crown Metropol raising vital funds for Cancer Research and Crisis Support.

Climbers battled 28 floors in up to 25kg of turnout gear and breathing apparatus as a symbol of the burden of significant health and well-being issues faced by our first responders and their families on a daily basis.

If you would like to support Derek raise funds for this worthy cause, follow the link below to make a donation.

https://www.firefighterclimb.org.au/climber/derekwatson/