Training in the Northern Territory

Di Billingsley is a well-known member of our local community. As a teacher she served at Kurnai for many years and as a member of the Boolarra Fire Brigade she was the first female member and the first female Captain.

Di is a passionate lifelong learner, gaining many skills which she is very willing to share. Di has gained many qualifications through CFA, including Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. For fifteen years, Di had worked with other Volunteer Trainer Assessors training volunteer firefighters in the local area. This means she can train and assess CFA volunteers in their General Fire Fighter course, a requirement for new members to complete before going on the fire ground.

A surprise phone call in October last year, suggesting she put up her hand for a volunteer training job in the Northern Territory, appealed to her. Much to her amazement Di was chosen along with Phil Graham of Heyfield brigade.

In 2023, the Northern Territory had its worst fire season since 2011, running for many months across the Territory. There were many significant fires, with mammoth fire fronts, which had taken all the available members to the fire grounds.

As a result, the Bushfires NT trainers were occupied with operational firefighting and incident management and were unavailable to train new members. Hence, the request for assistance and CFA Chief Officer, Jason Heffernan put up his hand to help. The help was Di and Phil.

To prepare they were given copies of FF1, the general firefighters program for the Bushfires NT. In some ways it was similar to the training in Victoria but there were other ways it was not. There are 20 volunteer brigades with both male and female members in the NT, spread over a vast area. Di and Phil were flown to Alice Springs where they were hard at work as soon as they arrived, familiarising themselves with the training, equipment, machinery, and mapping technology used in the Northern Territory. Some of this is quite different to that used in Victoria.

The environments through the Territory are also very different to Victoria, and water availability can be very limited in some areas, so different strategies are used to combat different types of fires. The vegetation types also vary, and the firefighting strategies used also vary according to the type of incident. One strategy uses blowers to blow the fire back on itself. It was interesting to see the consideration that is given to Traditional owners, their stories and culture in the way Bushfires NT plan firefighting operations.

Di and Phil trained volunteers, Rangers, and people employed at facilities such as mining companies. After full-on training sessions for the twenty-one members in the Alice Springs area, some of whom had travelled hundreds of miles to attend, they flew up to Darwin to deliver the same training to a further fourteen people.

At the end of the fourteen days, they were asked to provide an evaluation of the FF1 course and any suggestions for improvement, filling in gaps and clarifying text. Bushfires NT have recently released their updated FF1 training package which includes a number of their suggestions.

The Northern Territory trip was a lot of hard work, but Di says they were warmly welcomed and appreciated, at the same time having fun and forming new friendships. An added bonus was strengthening the ties between the Bushfires NT and CFA. “I am proud of our efforts and contribution to training in the NT” she said. “It was very flattering to be nominated for the job and I am humbled to have been chosen. It was a privilege to have been able to do my bit, taking my skills and knowledge to help others. Phil was a fantastic person to work with – his experience and knowledge, and his way of thinking is very similar to mine, so we made a pretty good team.”

Volunteering provides Di with enormous satisfaction as she supports her community. This opportunity gave her another way to be involved and help and provided her with new experiences and skills. Di believes the skills she has learnt in private and public life are there to use for others, making your community a better place. It is an added bonus that, by giving to your community, you gain so much personally.