WILCANNIA FIRE BRIGADE “NEW” EXECUTIVE

Wilcannia headquarters Brigade had a full day last Saturday.

Fire Control Officer Bill Britt conducted a full day training session, which included a couple of burns at the shire rubbish depot. In the evening the AGM and a general meeting was held.

Bill Britt conducted the elections which contained few surprises. John Pineo was endorsed as Brigade Captain, Greg Barraclough as Senior Deputy and Roxanne Kennedy as Junior Deputy. Schoolteacher Michael Barrett again accepted the Secretary/Treasurers position.

A number of matters were discussed at the following meeting. Of most importance was the above average chance of the coming spring/summer developing into a busy fire season.

Bill Britt said he felt it was unlikely that there would be repeat of last years wet weather which prevented fires in this area, though he did comment that the fires in the north-west corner around the Tiboobura area had been a wake up call.

THANK YOU
On behalf of the Wilcannia Headquarters Brigade of the Rural Fire Service I would like to pass on our thanks to Tony Sorohan for his very generous and unexpected donation towards our training day last Saturday. We are all extremely appreciative of your kind gesture. John Pineo, Captain Wilcannia Headquarters Brigade RFSA

The lack of man power and also the fact that are few landholders who have actual experience in fighting large scale grass fires was noted as one of the biggest problems. The last big fire season in this area was 1984/85.

A decision was made to have a membership drive, each member has committed to introducing a new member in the next 12 months. There have been a number of occasions in the last year where there is only 1 brigade member in town and this could be a real problem should the brigade be needed.

If you are interested in joining the brigade there is a brigade practice on the first Sunday of each month, starting at around 9.00am and going for 3 hours.

Photo left to right: Michael Barrett, John Pineo, Roxanne Kennedy and Greg Barraclough