0400 774 102 paul @ landscapelogicnsw. com. au www. landscapelogicnsw. com. au
Middle Dural Rural Fire Service
volunteers retire they never actually leave, with many of them still checking in to see what is happening.
“ Jim Smith is now in his 90s and was in the brigade for many years. He’ s now retired but was group officer and head of all volunteers for the Hills at one stage. His commitment to the district is amazing and he still phones us to see what’ s going on.
“ Then there is Ken Middleston, senior dept captain, who has stepped back from the front line, but is still an active member when it comes to health and safety.”
Many of the past volunteers came back for the recent 80th anniversary
The Best Family, Jeff, Len and Aiden.
and they had an amazing day, over 150 people turned up to celebrate. Other local brigades came with their trucks to mark the occasion and the fun continued into the evening with a dinner and speeches to commemorate the date.
The team of volunteers are looking for more people to join them and help out the local community. Joining the RFS is a fairly straight forward process, which involves some basic training to begin with.“ You have to do a basic fire fighter course, which involves a couple of weeks of training at the brigade, then we organise an assessment. Once you get that you can respond to calls and take part in hazard reductions. You can do extra courses in First Aid, use a chain saw for tree felling, and take part in truck driving courses( on and off road) as well as lots of other training sessions to take part in,” Morrie explained.
“ There are opportunities to work your way up and move through the different ranks if you want, allowing you to become an advanced fire fighter, crew leader, dept captain or captain.” Being at the
Morrie with nephew Christopher Ziader( l) and daughter Emilia( r).
forefront isn’ t for everyone, but Morrie said that there are a lot of roles which are behind the scenes, which are just as necessary and important.
He also understands that this is a voluntary position, and doesn’ t expect people to turn up to every call.
“ We like to see people as often as they are available to come along, we want everyone to keep their skills sharp, but this isn’ t a paid job, and we understand that earning a wage comes first,” he said.
“ The work we put in depends on the season. We might not see people for two or three months, other times we might get a lot of calls and people are out a few times a month. During 2020, we had crews out every day to help with the fires that swept through from Queensland.”
The job might not be for the faint hearted, but the relationships between the members and the knowledge that you have helped out people at their biggest times of need is what gets everyone through the tough times and makes it worthwhile.
If you are interested in volunteering, the crew meet on the first Monday of every month and you can contact Morrie at Morriemaait-vol @ rfs. nsw. gov. au for further information.
Lic: 347025C
Paul McDarmont
0400 774 102 paul @ landscapelogicnsw. com. au www. landscapelogicnsw. com. au
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THE HILLS INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine. com. au ISSUE 124 // OCTOBER 2025 7