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Werribee CFA volunteer Belinda Craig says protecting the community is her number one priority…meeting stars like U2’s Bono is just a bonus.
Ms Craig led a four-member Werribee crew to patrol fire lines, completing backburning and checking on residents.
The crew, also including Simon Roberson, Matt Mannix and Rohan Rizzoli, arrived in NSW on Tuesday and returned on Saturday. They were based at Richmond.
On the way to the fire zone, they met Bono and other U2 band members at the Melbourne airport.
Ms Craig said meeting the rock stars was a thrill but paled in comparison to protecting lives and property.
“Meeting Bono was awesome and we appreciated their interest, but if I had to choose between meeting a celebrity and saving a house, I’d protect the house any day,” she said.
“That’s our priority.”
Ms Craig has been a volunteer for 30 years, following in the footsteps of her father Don.
“I joined as soon as I turned 11 and went up to seniors at 16 and have been there ever since,” she said. “It’s nice to give back to the community.”
Ms Craig has been on many strike teams, including Sydney 2001-2002, Black Saturday and others across the region.
“They’ve all been big fires and challenging but we’re well trained and experienced to deal with then,” she said.
Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) CEO Adam Barnett praised the commitment and readiness of volunteers to help in times of crisis.
“About 400 CFA members have been deployed to assist NSW crews with firefighting, incident management and specialist roles and that number increases every day,” he said.
Mr Barnett added that no Victorian stations were left empty and no communities left unprotected while the volunteers were interstate.
“The CFA surge capacity is working exactly as it is designed to,” he said. “When major disasters happen the training, dedication and professionalism of volunteers really come to the fore.”
Learn more about CFA’s world-respected surge capacity on the VFBV website.
