Volunteer community engagement in practice
Volunteer community engagement in practice
Community engagement about fire safety is fundamental to the success of minimising bushfire risk in Tasmanian communities. Bushfire-Ready Neighbourhoods is a dedicated community engagement program that is partnering with TFS volunteer fire brigades and ‘at risk’ communities to achieve positive outcomes.
Volunteer community engagement has always been seen as an important component of bushfire safety alongside firefighting. Together, they assist with achieving successful outcomes, as seen across Tasmania during the 2019 bushfires.
Kelso Fire Brigade Chief, Steve Masters, recently reported that in the 2018-2019 fire season there was a 50% reduction in small fire calls in the area. This outcome reflects the Kelso Brigade’s community engagement efforts with local residents on fire safety.
Steve and the brigade have carried on the Bushfire-Ready Neighbourhoods program in their area and have conducted successful community engagement and education activities with residents on the safe use of fire, bushfire preparedness and planning.
Steve and the brigade at Kelso are a great example of how community engagement can reduce the workload for volunteers, add to fire safety and help the community work together to reduce their bushfire risk.
Kelso Brigade members have embraced the skills of community engagement with Steve and 2nd Officer Kevin Cleaver providing valuable assistance at the Tasmania Fire Service’s fire safety display at the 2019 AGFEST.
They worked alongside TFS staff and several other volunteers demonstrating their engagement skills with a large audience that was keen to hear from them.
Beaconsfield Fire Brigade members Tami Long and Kayla Richards have accessed opportunities to enhance their community engagement skills. Tami and Kayla attended AGFEST for three days and quickly settled into the role.
They were supported by Simon from St Patricks River Brigade, Alicia and Bronwyn from Evandale, David from Frankford/Birralee, Jeff from Lilydale and Cherrie from Hadspen. These volunteers provided fire safety information to the public and gained community engagement experience.
Over 800 people were engaged at the TFS stand at AGFEST this year, triple the previous year’s attendance. This was made possible due to the outstanding work of these TFS community engagement volunteers helping out over the few days.
Tami and Kayla have continued their work in community engagement in their community by hosting an Open Day at Beaconsfield Fire Station. They also attended this year’s Emergency Services Conference as engagement volunteers, working with the community development staff to talk to attendees about the volunteer community engagement role.
More recently, they attended a Family Fun Day hosted by Flinders Island Aboriginal Association Inc. (FIAAI) at Kings Meadows YMCA. They spent the day talking with families about home fire safety and the importance of smoke alarms in bedrooms.
This year, I have spent many days working with community engagement volunteers from across the northern region. The skill level, enthusiasm, dedication and knowledge displayed by everyone has been reassuring and exciting to experience.
It reinforces our belief that our TFS volunteers continue to display high standards in the work they do in protecting communities.
David Cleaver, Community Development Officer North