Fire fighting in Victoria

We've been seeing this image a lot in the media in the coverage of the bushfires and I wanted to share it - the CFA in Victoria is really something spectacular. Almost all fire fighters in Victoria are volunteers. Only in big cities like Melbourne are there paid positions. All rural towns have a completely voluntary team. It's unbelievable how much they are expected to do though! They can be called at anytime and whisked away from their hometowns to help with fires anywhere in the state. Depending on their day jobs, a primary school might have a shortage of teachers because they are out fighting fires. I think that it's amazing that people are so committed to keeping their towns safe and providing members of the community to fight fires anywhere in the state. CFA is one of the world’s largest volunteer-based emergency services. There are around 58,000 volunteer members supported by over 400 career fire fighters and officers and more than 700 career support and administrative staff.