Diane Lawson has taken on the role of captain of Gordon Fire Brigade.
“Being chosen for this role by my peers is an honour,” Diane said. But Diane is quick to point out that a brigade is about the team, not the individual.
"I have a great brigade management team to help me and, while the buck may stop with me, I have complete faith in my team and the wider brigade," she said.
Starting her volunteering with CFA over 15 years ago with the knowledge that the then secretary/treasurer was leaving, Diane joined to help the brigade to fill the vacant role. After playing with the hose and pump, she decided to complete Minimum Skills and, in her own words, "was hooked".
Diane stayed in the role of brigade secretary/treasurer for 12 years but has also taken on the roles of Brigade Community Safety Coordinator, Junior Leader, Fire Safe Kids Presenter, Juvenile Fire Awareness and Intervention Practitioner and a member of the Volunteer Reference Group operating from CFA’s Headquarters in Burwood organising the annual Community Safety Forums.
She is also an active firefighter for the brigade and most recently successfully gained her medium rigid licence to enable her to drive the brigade’s tanker. She has attended many incidents over the years and was involved in the 2009 fires, Tasmanian fires and other strike team deployments.
Diane believes she has gained personally from being part of the fire brigade as she has become more interested in the emergency management sector as a whole, which led to her participation and subsequent volunteer teaching in the Volunteer Leadership Development Program run by AEMI. She then completed an Advanced Diploma Public Safety: Emergency Management.
“The lessons I've learned within the brigade have been just as important. Interpersonal relationships with different members of the community who join the brigade, working as a team with the same common goals and being part of a larger organisation have been very rewarding,” she said.
"I know that firefighting isn’t for everyone, but if anyone is thinking of joining the CFA, my advice is have a go - you might be surprised."