Members have been busy with training over the last month, with Advanced Firefighter and Village Firefighter courses being run in Group 1 of the Shoalhaven District.
Kangaroo Valley is one of six Brigades in Group 1, with the other brigades being Shoalhaven Heads, Broughton Vale (Berry), Beaumont, Cambewarra and West Nowra (formerly Illaroo Road). The brigade had a relatively quiet period with the high winds and wet ground contributing to the two callouts for the month for trees down over powerlines.
Members have been involved in Chainsaw training in the Southern Tablelands Zone, A fresh and breezy weekend was spent training and assessing candidates in the Yass area.
The brigade held its Annual General Meeting this month, with some new office bearers being elected. David ‘Dusty’ Smart remains as captain with Dave Alexander as his Senior Deputy. Deputy Captains remain the same, with Neil Breeze, Jamie Salkeld, Mark Bourke, Greg Muffet and Steve Bell all continuing in roles to support Dusty and Dave.
Members were presented with the National Emergency Medal for services during the 2019/20 season. This is a thank you from the people of NSW for efforts during a very long and arduous fire season. Covid has delayed the presentation of these medals.
Long service medals were also awarded to Lance Brown for 20 years service and Sergio Gomez for 10 years service.
Please observe the pile burns and burning off paragraph from the previous edition of the voice.
Jamie Salkeld
Community Engagement Officer