Riley McKenzie, Daniel Di Camillo, Jeremy Lynn, Chris Jenson, Axel Martin join Beaconsfield CFA brigade
A CFA brigade in Melbourne’s southeast is celebrating it’s newest batch of graduate firefighters, as they excel from the juniors program into the senior brigade. Read their story.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
As bushfire season heads towards its peak in Victoria, CFA fire stations around the state are welcoming new junior graduates into senior crews.
Beaconsfield Fire Brigade is one of the houses escalating five juniors to senior status, following their successful graduations from the well-established Juniors Program.
Riley McKenzie, Daniel Di Camillo, Jeremy Lynn and Chris Jenson were part of the junior program for five years and Axel Martin joined for two years.
Beaconsfield Junior Program Team Leader, and new graduate Riley’s dad, Jason McKenzie has proudly committed his time and passion to training the new group of firefighters over the past five years.
“It’s been a massive achievement and I’m so proud of the boys and what we’ve been able to accomplish so far,” Mr McKenzie said.
The CFA often is home to legacy firefighters, and this group of grads is no different.
Not only is Riley a legacy firefighter, but so is Jeremy, son of brigade members Brett and Lisa Lynn.
Riley said he will “treasure the quality time” he has had with his dad and friends through the rerun of the juniors program.
“My dad has been a big fan of CFA for a very long time, so I decided to join up alongside him and I’ve found it to be a very fun and enjoyable experience,” he said.
“I really enjoy the social aspect of it - everyone at the brigade is really welcoming. I just love to be around them. It’s heaps of fun.”
Beaconsfield’s Junior Program is a five-year plan that welcomes kids at age 11, training them up to graduate at senior level at age 16.
The Junior Volunteer Development Program is run at 160 brigades across Victoria, giving kids the opportunity to build confidence, develop new skills and nurture leadership skills all while participating in brigade activities.
Mr McKenzie said the goal of getting the Junior Program running again was to help the CFA with recruitment.
“These are the first kids in a few years who have come through from entry level, so it’s been really rewarding to see their knowledge and skills improve and see just how much they embrace it,” he said.
“It’s really important that brigades continue trying to get those junior memberships and to keep them engaged and moving.”
Mr McKenzie has received support from Captain Philip Walton and other brigade firefighters to build the intensive hands-on program, helping to prepare kids to be ‘real’ firefighters.
Mr McKenzie said he has a group of leaders supporting him, and that he “couldn’t do it without them.”
Riley also praised the leaders for their efforts in making the training sessions an interactive experience.
“One of our members is a forest park ranger and he took us down to Akoonah Park to discuss the way fire works and how the environment around us impacts the way it behaves. We all found it really interesting,” he said.
Unsurprisingly, keeping the attention of young 11 year olds focused was a challenge, so the leaders took the juniors on a trip to Eildon for some practical experience in a fire boat.
Unfortunately, some brigades are unable to run junior programs, but this provided leaders with a unique training opportunity for the young learners.
“We also support our neighbouring brigades because they don’t run junior programs. So we take kids from other areas and hope they will then flow through to those brigades when they get to that age bracket,” Mr McKenzie said.
“Axel will head to Upper Beaconsfield Brigade as it’s closer to his primary area.”
As these five grads move into their new brigades, the Beaconsfield fire house is now looking to the local primary school for the next class of juniors.
“We went down and did a ‘meet and greet’ and told them all about juniors. Before we knew it, we had four new applications. It was fantastic,” Mr McKenzie said.
“You’ve got to be out there looking for them, you can’t just sit there and wait for them to come to you. You’ve got to be proactive.”
While Riley said the theory component was challenging, he is already gearing up for his duties as a senior and helping to ‘save the day’.
“I’m really looking forward to doing my firefighter course and being able to go out on the truck with my dad and help him during fire calls,” Riley said.
“But more importantly, just giving back to the community and helping people in need.”
Beaconsfield has six new juniors coming through the ranks, both girls and boys.
To get involved in the program, juniors can complete an application form on the CFA website.
gemma.scerri@news.com.au
