Firefighters are the lifeblood of Australia, and our true heroes. They often face some of nature’s most challenging conditions.
But for volunteer firefighter, Jennifer Sims, who regularly risks her life to save others, this is all just part of the job.
“We’re on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. If 000 deem it necessary for us to attend a scene, we will. We are here to make people safe,” she said.
During the day, Ms Sims works as a technical support specialist at Aussie Broadband in Lynbrook. She handles customers’ technical queries and accounts, and also connects with them via social media and live chat.
But as soon as her pager goes off she puts on her fire helmet and joins her team at the Carrum Downs Fire Brigade.
Ms Sims has served with Country Fire Authority (CFA) for seven years. Speaking on International Volunteer Day, she said the toughest part of the job is when they’re unable to save someone’s property.
“About three days before Christmas, we attended a full house fire. Unfortunately, we were unable to save the property and a family lost their home. That really sucked.
“We want to be there to defend people’s homes. It feels like our home. So when we can’t save a property, it really hurts,” she said.
“People always think the person holding the hose is the one doing all the work. But there’s a lot of work behind closed doors that people don’t see. Every role is important, whether you’re the first on the scene to do the health checks or helping to put an injured person in an ambulance. It all counts,” she said.
Ms Sims said the support from her work and colleagues at the CFA is essential for her to continue to be a volunteer. Her workplace offers a community service leave policy, which allows for staff to apply for consideration of flexible working arrangements to meet a community service need.
“If we’ve been called out to a car accident and there’s a child screaming, obviously there’s an emotional toll on us. But we’ve got an amazing supportive team both at the CFA and at work. It’s that support that keeps us going, and allows us to do what we do,” Ms Sims said.
