Paul Spinks wins Spirit of CFA Living The Values Gold Award

Paul is currently Deputy Group Officer of Yarra Valley Group and a volunteer with Yellingbo Fire Brigade. Throughout 2019 and 2020 he has dedicated his time to delivering a safe environment.  

Paul joined CFA when he was 16 years old because one of his friends was a member of the local fire brigade. 

“Once one of my friends joined we all decided to join. A bunch of us joined as juniors and this is where I am today, 31 years later,” Paul said. 

Paul said it’s a huge honour to win a Spirit of CFA Award, and especially to be nominated by his peers and some other great leaders.  

“Winning this award is an acknowledgement of not just my own work but the great team at Yellingbo, and the work that we’ve been able to do both in the community and emergency response. It’s quite humbling. With all the work that we do as volunteers, this is some great recognition. 

“My proudest moment at CFA is to work as a team at Yellingbo to build a station and build a specialist vehicle for Yellingbo rehab. We also have the greatest membership that’s been constant for many years. 

“My most memorable time at CFA was receiving my National Medal and being nominated by my brigade to recognise my service and my Life Membership at Yellingbo Fire Brigade. This was a huge honour for myself and my family and it’s something I hold very dear. Another standout moment was the work the team did in the Black Saturday fires.” 

Yellingbo Captain Jeremy Hardy nominated Paul for the Award because Paul often took on the role of incident controller where the safety of firefighters and the community were always his priorities. 

“Paul is continually looking out for brigade members and the general public’s safety and their wellbeing,” Jeremy said. 

One of Paul’s recent roles has been to deliver hot fire training through the CFA live fire training pod program. 

“He has been responsible for teaching volunteers how to use and deliver this training to their brigades and he has also committed an incredible amount of time to CFA and his community for over 30 years,” Jeremy said.