Hamilton’s Peter Wall woke up on Christmas Day in 2004 to the soothing sound of a CFA pager.
***Peter Wall is a CFA volunteer who is being profiled as part of a special series celebrating National Volunteer Week***
At the time, he was living in Ararat with his parents, and was a member of the town’s fire brigade.
On Christmas Day he was called out to attend a fire on the western side of Grampians, between Pomonal and Moyston, and was working closely with the Incident Controller.
Christmas that year was a busy day for emergency services; there were fires burning, a drowning at Mackenzie Falls and a person lost at the Zumsteins.
After a long day out fighting the fire, Peter came home to an empty house at Ararat. His mum, a CFA employee, was also busy providing support for firefighters out in the field.
Peter had microwaved a pre-prepared Christmas dinner, at home, by himself. He said Christmas was a lost cause that year.
“I ended up working another three days in the Grampians working full 12 hour shifts,” he said.
“I was in my own bubble; I didn’t even know the Boxing Day Tsunami happened until a few days after.”
Peter joined CFA soon after a neighbour, who was 1st Lieutenant at Ararat at the time, dragged him to training as soon as he turned 16.
Now, Peter lives in Hamilton and works with SES. He still finds the time to volunteer with Hamilton Fire Brigade.
Last month Peter travelled to New South Wales as part of a incident management team to help out after the destructive Sydney floods and storms.
“I really like what I do,” he said.
“You’re doing something great for the community and it’s very rewarding.”
Author: CFA Media