Local employer Rivalea may be on the New South Wales side of the border, but they had no hesitation in making a generous contribution for a potentially life-saving piece of equipment for Wahgunyah Fire Brigade.
Rivalea, a major pork producer which employs over 1,200 people at its Corowa plant, provided a contribution of $2,000 towards a thermal imaging camera, with the balance met by the brigade.
Thermal imaging cameras are primarily used by fire brigades to locate people in conditions of poor visibility, such as a search operation or to locate a patient within a burning structure who may be unconscious.
Fire Brigade Captain Mal O’Halloran said the camera would enhance the brigade’s search and rescue capability, to locate the source of a fire more quickly, and also to check for hotspots to ensure an incident scene is safe.
“We have had a few house fires in the area recently,” he said
“The thermal imaging camera allows you to enter a room and locate the exact sources of heat when there is quite a bit of smoke. Previously we had to wait for this equipment to come from Wodonga which is half an hour away.
“This will make things so much easier,” said Mal.
Wahgunyah 3rd lieutenant Chris Davies, who works at Rivalea, said the company “didn’t hesitate for a moment” in deciding to contribute, even though their premises is on the New South Wales side of the border.
“They wanted to support us to support the community,” he said.
“It’s a close-knit community, even though we have got Wahgunyah on one side of the river and Corowa on the other, and a lot of people who work at Rivalea live in Wahgnyah.
“We have very good relationships with the NSW fire services and we help each other out,” Chris said.
Author: CFA News