Fire Rescue Victoria
Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:56): Last week I had the opportunity to participate in Fire Rescue Victoria’s Fire Ops 101 program. I know I am not the first member in this place to have taken part. The reviews were so good, I was very excited to take part in their academy in Craigieburn. Fire Ops 101 immerses participants in time-critical, highly technical and skilled work – just a small sample of what it is to be an FRV firefighter. The program is designed for all sorts of various stakeholders, including politicians – there were some actors there, some business leaders and some other public figures – to learn what it is like, to have a small sample of what it is like to be a firefighter and to better understand the resources and the training that they need to keep our communities safe. It provides us with that small glimpse into those daily responsibilities. It was a truly eye-opening experience, just the length and breadth of the type of work that our FRV heroes go in and do every single day. When others are running away from danger, they are the ones running in to fix the situation and to calm things down.
I would like to particularly thank all of those at FRV and the United Firefighters Union who made this possible, including Kat, the coordinator, and give a big shout-out to Ed and my support team on the day and the wonderful FRV firefighters, including Lachlan, better known as Butters, Sam and indeed Andrew, who is one of my local firefighters as well.