Mitchell Shire catchment commander Paul Brislin said somewhere between 50 and 80 people turned out to expand their knowledge of the brigade.
“The main purpose for the day was trying to attract new members to the Seymour Fire Brigade and provide them with some information,” he said.
“It also provided an opportunity to showcase some of the equipment and convey some fire safety messages, as well.”
The free event, delivered in partnership with Mitchell Shire Council, was not only filled with food trucks and kids’ activities, but also allowed potential volunteers to undertake enlightening information sessions.
“We had about 15-odd people go through the dedicated information sessions,” Mr Brislin said.
“Effectively, they were about people understanding what it means to volunteer for CFA and the roles that they could undertake within the Seymour Fire Brigade.
“There’s operational roles and firefighting, but we also made sure that people who were not interested in that aspect understood that they could still volunteer and join the brigade by helping in non-operational roles.”
The open day ran from 10am until 2pm, offering plenty of time to showcase the range of opportunities the brigade has in store.
Mr Brislin, who deemed the day’s success to be a result of the dedicated team of event facilitators such as Kylie Comte, said there seemed to be a number of interested recruits.
“It was a successful day, and we’ll certainly take the opportunity to do another open day to the public in future,” he said.
“For us, we’re very much focused on fire prevention and educating the community about fire safety, so while recruitment was the focus, we do want to make sure that the local community has things like working smoke alarms and a fire escape plan.
“It’s always good to see that interaction between our members and the public because it just gives us an opportunity to tell people what we do ... It’s really important for us to be integrating with the community.”
Mr Brislin said that while the open day was over for this year, community members were always welcome to register their interest in volunteering.
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