THIS MONTH
I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT
DANGER.
The danger that I want to talk about isn’t so much the danger of Bush Fires or the danger of a House Fire, though it is related. The danger that should be of greatest concern to the community of Copmanhurst is complacency.
Recently there was an incident in a home in the village that could very well have had tragic results. Fortunately it didn’t.
What it has highlighted though is that there are now no active Bush fire Brigade members resident in Copmanhurst.
What does this mean? It means that in the case of an incident such as the recent one, it takes far longer for the Brigade to respond to a call out.
In the Village we have available a State of the Art facility with modern well equipped Fire Tankers, a Brigade that is designated and trained as a Village protection Brigade. Despite this we have very little capacity to respond in a timely way because of a severe shortage of volunteers to crew the vehicles.
Unlike in urban areas, where the Fire Brigade is staffed by the State Government, Bush Fire Brigades rely completely on Volunteers. YOU rely completely on volunteers.
In the Copmanhurst Brigade none of the present active volunteers live in the village and most work away from the area on weekdays. Three live in Grafton.
What does this mean? This means that when there is a fire in a home, or the school, or the pub, the capacity of the Copmanhurst Community, to save lives and property, will sit in the shed until assistance arrives from an outlying area, or worse a brigade from another community has to be called all the way from Koolkhan or Waterview Heights.
It is the lives of you and your family that are at risk and it is entirely your responsibility to do something about it.
There is absolutely no point in blaming a slow response from the Bushfire Brigade after lives, and property, have been lost. The time to fix the problem is now, not after the event.
This is a very serious issue for the people of Copmanhurst.
The only way this problem can be fixed is for the people of Copmanhurst to take responsibility for it and share in the solution.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service is a professional, volunteer, organisation that is well equipped and has the most up to date training standards in the world. There is a role for almost anyone in the Brigade and no one is asked to do more than they are able to. Anyone 16 years or older is eligible.
To find out more about your Brigade go to our website Copmanhurstbushfirebrigade.org or come to one of our monthly meetings at 7.30pm on the fourth Tuesday of the month or our training days at 9.30 on the Second Saturday. Just come and have a look if you like.
Remember, it’s your family, your home, your community, your brigade…………and your responsibility.
