CFA’s Longerenong Training Campus has seen a surge in enrolments throughout August and September, ahead of the coming fire season.
Since the start of August, more than 260 students have trained at the campus, more than double the intake for the same period last year.
Longerenong Training Campus Practical Area Drill (PAD) Operator, Brendan Moylan said the increase was an encouraging sign.
“It’s great to see more people coming through, and we want to keep that momentum going,” Brendan said.
“As the only CFA Training Campus in far west Victoria, Longerenong plays a vital role in preparing our brigades, while also supporting emergency services personnel and other organisations that use the facility.
“The more opportunities our members have to practise their skills in a realistic and controlled environment, the better prepared they are when they’re called on in the community.”
Fellow PAD operator Matthew Walsh said the range of facilities meant training could be tailored to what individual brigades and members wanted to achieve.
“We can support live fire training, breathing apparatus search and rescue, gas firefighting, HazMat (Hazardous Material), working at heights, forcible entry and salvage operations,” Matthew said.
“We’ve also got training props for vehicle, aircraft, service station and industrial fires, as well as flammable liquids, extinguishers and an off-road driver training area.
“A brigade might want to refresh a core skill or run members through a more complex scenario. They can tell instructors what they want to work on, and we can help build the training around that.
“We want brigades to feel comfortable coming here and using the campus regularly.
“It’s their training facility, and our job is to help them get as much as they can out of it.
“Every member who builds or maintains their skills here takes that capability back to their brigade, and ultimately that helps our communities across the west.”
CFA is encouraging brigades that have not recently trained at Longerenong, or have never used the campus, to explore the opportunities available via cfa.vic.gov.au/about-us/what-we-do/cfa-training-campuses.