Churchill Fire Brigade - June 2024
Community engagement is an important role undertaken by the Churchill Fire Brigade. This involves a range of activities, including participating in community events, and fire education programs to help communities to be prepared for and safe from fire.
On ANZAC Day several members attended the Churchill remembrance service and two laid a wreath. At the Churchill Shop Local, our three members were kept extra busy cooking the free sausages and talking fire safety.
The members of the Fire Safe Kids program have visited Churchill North for three sessions. The first two were for important lessons on fire safety including what to do if your clothes catch on fire, how to exit a house if the smoke alarm goes off, the absolute importance of having a working smoke alarm and how to look after it, and fire safety in the kitchen and other parts of the house. Development of home fire safety plans is something that the children can take home and share with other family members. Preparing for the bushfire season, knowing what the fire warning signs mean and which area we live in, total fire ban days and learning about what to do on hot, dry, windy high temperature days, and having bushfire survival plans are important for the warmer months leading into summer.
The third visit was with the fire trucks. Each student was given the task of identifying particular features or equipment on the truck. Then they were able to squirt the hose with a firefighters assistance, see the lights and hear the siren.
The members enjoyed their time at Churchill North Primary School and hope the information they imparted, is remembered and put to use.
Our members have also turned out to 65 fires or incidents so far this year, a number that we would like to see reduced as the Churchill Fire Brigade is a fully volunteer brigade. Attendance at false alarms of fire is one of the largest categories of response, which could easily be reduced if more of those burning off around their properties registered their burnoff with Triple Zero Victoria on 1800 668 551.