Country Fire Service says 1000 people have called wanting to sign up as volunteers since the Adelaide Hills bushfires

SO many people want to join the CFS in the wake of the Adelaide Hills bushfires that hundreds of would-be volunteer firefighters are being turned away — for up to five years.

MORE than 1000 people have called the Country Fire Service hotline wanting to sign up as volunteers in the wake of the Adelaide Hills bushfires.

The surge in interest is so great, would-be firefighters are being turned away.

CFS Assistant Chief Officer Mick Ayre said the response had been unprecedented with more than double the number of inquiries than the service received after last year’s month-long fires at Bangor in the state’s mid-north.

However, Mr Ayre said many metropolitan brigades were already full, and were having to either place people on a waiting list or redirect them to other volunteer organisations.

“If (people) really do want to be involved in the recovery process (they can) by talking to Volunteering SA and NT,” he said.

“We can put them in touch with organisations who can put them on the ground tomorrow.”

Mr Ayre encouraged people wanting to be part of the CFS to be patient.

“Sometimes the waiting list is a way of showing how interested a person is — stick it out, put your name on the list,” he said.

Tea Tree Gull CFS captain Daryl Klingberg said since the Adelaide Hills bushfires, his brigade has received interest from people from as far as the other side of the city.

“We’ve had people that live at Seaton and Glenelg North that want to join,” he said.

Mr Klingberg said it was a shame to turn people away but his brigade required people to live or work within seven minutes of the station to enable crews to respond quickly to incidents.

The brigade captain said his unit already had a waiting list of 90 people, and it could take up to five years before a position became available.

“If we had unlimited numbers, it just becomes too difficult to manage,” Mr Klingberg said.

Emergency Services Minister Tony Piccolo said it was heartening to see so many keen to help their community.

“Volunteers are an integral part of our emergency services and it is always pleasing to hear that people want to commit their time to the Country Fire Service,” he said.

While brigades close to the city are awash with volunteers, rural brigades are still struggling to find members.

“We have great trouble recruiting people in those areas,” Mr Ayre said.

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