By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
IT’S not every day that the Cranbourne CFA gets to welcome two new recruit firefighters who have called the station home as volunteers.
Former Cranbourne CFA volunteers Chris Williams and Adam Hanger have made it through the rigorous application and training process to do what they’ve always dreamed of – a goal that has been on Mr Williams’s mind for more than 17 years.
Mr Williams, 36, said he thought he’d grow out of the dream.
“Time got away from me and it was one of those things I thought I’d move past but it had always been there that’s why I became a volunteer at 18 years old,” he said.
Senior station officer Stuart Curnow said such integration doesn’t happen all the time.
“To have two come from one brigade from volunteer to staff in six months is pretty rare,” he said.
Mr Williams graduated as a firefighter in December last year and was sent to Traralgon.
However he said that even after 17 years volunteering and four months of training, he’s still got a lot to learn.
“Training is always ongoing and it’s a lot more involved than volunteering, but it gave me the best platform – I love it,” Mr Williams said.
And Mr Hanger said he always knew he’d end up a “firey”.
“I’ve been a mechanic with the CFA for five years, I did my auto apprenticeship with them and I’ve always wanted to go full-time even before I became a volunteer,” he said.
The Cranbourne CFA has had four new recruits join the station over the past three months and urge anyone interested in volunteering to contact them or visit www.cfa.vic.gov.au.
