Craig Abbott, Naomi Eccleston, Brett Huyton, Brooke Watson and Daniel Wilson from 511 Yass were amongst 264 new firefighters graduated from the Fire and Rescue NSW Emergency Services Academy at Orchard Hills.
Two out of the five Yass retained firefighters, Brooke and Naomi, will move on to complete a specialist rescue operator training commencing next month.
Prior to recruitment training, recruits had to complete station-based competency training before further training in Sydney began, which was in two phases.
Following on, they had additional training to complete which was at a station in Canberra and the newly operational firefighters were put through the paces on different skillsets.
Fire and Rescue NSW Station 511 Yass now has three female firefighters and 14 male firefighters.
511 Yass Brigade Captain Scott Lang said it was great to strengthen the team with new members but also celebrate the diversity in backgrounds of the recent graduates.
“I don’t look at it as a gender thing, but what an individual can bring to the team. Recent graduates come from a background of hospitality to policing, to an administrative background,” he said.
“What they have in their personal life is an attribute that can be transferred across to the discipline of firefighting and it further strengthens our capabilities of firefighting and onto the community.”
511 Yass station is kept very busy within the community and the surrounding areas with approximately 200 callouts and incidents a year.
This predominately includes heavy vehicle rescues and rescues of large animals such as horses and cattle stuck in creeks or dams.
Christopher Tan
