Is this our new mascot??

art work by Tracey P Dec 09 (copyright)

Official Handover of GoornongTanker 2

In October we final had the official handover of Goornong Tanker 2. Brigades from the neighbouring area helped us celebrate this day and included Junourtoun, Elmore, Axedale and Huntly. Region 2 was represented by Dale Stemmer. The hand over was conducted by Jacinata Allan MP, Member for Bendigo East. Also in attendance were members of Northgate Minerals, and the Elmore Field days committee who provided valuable support in acquiring the tanker. City of Greater Bendigo was represented by Mayor Kevin Gibbins. BBQ lunch followed with Jacinta Allan presenting the annual firefighter of the year award. This year we had joint winners - congratulations to Keith and Sharon both well deserving of the award.

Goornong School Plantation FR burn

On Tuesday 3 Nov the brigade commenced its program of fuel reduction burns around the township. The old school plantation block behind the pool required our attention. The block had not been cleaned or managed for some years. One of our volunteers donated his time and bobcat to help clear understory and leaf litter in preparation for the burn. (Thanks Peter) I am not sure how much we actually pulled out but in a lot of the area the leaf litter was 6 to 8 inches deep. We commenced the burn around 6.30pm after each member was given an opportunity to present a brief summary of how they would approach the burn. The pictures tell the rest. The burn was reasonably successful, but not all that clean, and provided challenges for the members in relation to changing weather condition, significant treed areas and hazards on the ground. At the end a job well done.

Fire Awareness Day - Goornong Primary School

The Goornong Primary School had a fire awareness day during October. The whole school participated with Gary, the CFA Community Ed guy keeping the kids entertained while delivering an important message about keeping themselves safe. Garry provide some highly entertaining practical approaches which brought some interesting comments and lots of laughs for the kids.

After the indoor session the grade prep to 3 had a chance to go over Goornong Tanker 2 and have a play with some of the equipment including using the live reel with a new Protek 361 monitor. A number of us almost got wet but wasn't through lack of trying on the students part. The 4 to 6 grades unfortunately missed an opportunity as luck would have it we got a fire call to a grass and scrub.

Thanks to Gary, the Community Ed guy and Lex, principal Goornong PS

Recent news article on Goornong CFA

The Goornong Brigade recently figured in an article in the Bendigo Miner. A copy of the article is seen on left. The article provided an opportunity thank publicly those organisation who helped fund new equipment.

Our latest recruits complete minimum skills

Congratulations to Damian and Mathew our 2 latest recruits who have completed their minimum skills. They are pictured here being congratulated by Brett , Region 2 Wildfire Instructor. Well done guys.

Support for the Brigade

Over the last 12 to 18 months we have had a huge amount of support from both the local community and businesses. This support has enabled us to provide new and replacement equipment to ensure we continue to support the community through emergency response and above all do this in as safe an environment as possible. I would like to acknowledge the support provided by the following organisations:

• Elmore Field Days Committee
• Northgate (Fosterville) Mining
• Metricon Homes
• Gilmacs Pty Ltd
• Goornong CFA Night Owls
  
• CFA Region 2
• Broader Goornong Community
• Volunteers of the Goornong Brigade

Without the support of these people many of our achievements over the past 12 months would not have been possible.
A reminder to all that we are less than 100 days away from the start of the Fire Danger Period.