Strengthening interstate relationships

Tracy Kierys with CFA firefighters Anne Greelish, Nick Webb, Rod Marks, Brad Newman and Elvis Crook in Queensland, 2023

 

In November 2023, Bulla Fire Brigade members, including Captain Elvis Crook, were part of a strike team that travelled to Gladstone, Queensland, to relieve exhausted local firefighters.

 

While on a fireline at Mirriamvale, the CFA members met Tracy Kierys and Helen Randall, members of the Rural Fire Service Queensland, who were checking out the fire before liaising with the community.

“We made an instant connection with Tracy,” Elvis said. “Over the course of a week we stayed in a camp near Tracy’s fire station, and she invited us to the Calliope Fire Station, about 20 kilometres south of Gladstone.

“Her crew took us in as their own, let us wash our truck and hosted an afternoon tea before we travelled back to Victoria. They also gave us a heap of Rural Fire Service merchandise including shirts and caps.

Tracy, who is her brigade’s secretary, community safety coordinator and a firefighter, was full of gratitude for the Victorian crews.

“We had been on the fireground for 26 days straight with no breaks,” Tracy said. “The Victorian crews allowed us to have a weekend off to recuperate. We were really grateful for that.

“We also found the Bulla crew to be engaging and we enjoyed comparing trucks and exchanging stories about fires.

“Since then, I’ve kept in touch with Elvis through Facebook and we often check in with each other to see how things are going.”

Elvis asked Tracy to get in touch if she ever planned to visit Victoria – which she did when she came to Melbourne for a holiday on Boxing Day 2024.

“We were happy to welcome Tracy and her daughter at Bulla Fire Station, where they met our members, exchanged stories and reflected on out time in Queensland,” Elvis said. “Before she left, we returned the favour by giving her a CFA T-shirt and cap.

“What struck me most about the Queensland deployment was that although their volunteers wear different gear and use different equipment, we are all volunteers who put the community front and centre. And this shared belief in community spirit led to us developing a strong connection.”

Tracy agreed, saying “on the fireground we’re all the same crew – comrades in arms”.

While in Melbourne, Tracy has learned about Victoria’s planning tool EM-COP (Emergency Management Common Operating Picture) and is impressed by it.

“EM-COP is really good and I want to talk to my members in Queensland about it,” Tracy said. “It’s more user friendly than our system in Queensland and has more functions.”

Elvis wouldn’t hesitate to help the Queensland Rural Fire Service again.

“They were so welcoming,” Elvis said. “And I’m proud of our connection with Queensland. As brigade captain I emphasise the importance of relationships, and I think this story sends a good message to new CFA members – support our interstate colleagues and develop connections.” 

If you have a brigade story you’d like to share, please post it on this website: news.cfa.vic.gov.au

 

Submitted by	News and Media