CFA knockback riles ex-soldier

By Sarah Schwager
A CRANBOURNE man who used to be in the army was furious when he was turned away after volunteering to fight fires.
David McCormack, 39, could not believe it when he offered his services at Cranbourne Fire Station only to be told to come back in April.
“The fires are happening now. In three or four months it will be all over,” he said.
Mr McCormack said he had trained as a firefighter during his time in the army, and was also very fit.
“The local volunteers in Gippsland are flat out and tired. They’re having to pay people to come out from overseas. It seems ridiculous when you’ve got people here who want to help.
“It’s a bit of an insult. It makes me think what is the point of coming back,” he said.
But Country Fire Authority (CFA) deputy chief officer Graham Fountain said training to be a firefighter was a six-month process.
“Obviously, in today’s society, safety is a number one priority for us,” he said.
“The days are well and truly behind us when you could just jump on the back of a truck and go.”
Mr Fountain also said the belief that volunteers were only needed over summer was false and the CFA was busy all year round.
But Mr Fountain said despite this, the CFA had its own training procedures that had to be adhered to.
These include an application process with a criminal record check, acceptance by the brigade after an interview, acceptance from the authority, an orientation process, theory tests and minimum skills firefighting training.
“We certainly welcome new members and we encourage people to go to their local CFA and go through the process.
“Volunteers are definitely needed. But it is a four- to six-month process,” Mr Fountain said.
Mr McCormack said he understood people needed to do the training but it seemed ridiculous knocking people back until April when he could start volunteering now.
This follows reports that have swamped the media recently over firefighters being too busy to train new recruits because of the fierce Gippsland fires.