Source: Victoria Country Fire Authority
As a medical physicist, specialising in radiotherapy cancer care, Newstead Fire Brigade member Anne Perkins decided she wanted to help her community further when she joined CFA in 2009.
Anne and her husband George first joined Newstead Fire Brigade over 17 years ago in response to the February 2009 bushfires, having just moved there three years earlier.
“A lot of people were saying to donate money, but we wanted to donate our time and do something more,” Anne said.
“Black Saturday was horrific, and we wanted to help with situations like that in the future and also help to prevent them.”
When Anne’s not on the farm in Newstead, she works for Icon Cancer Care Australia and is based at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne two days a week. Anne is part of a team that treats cancer patients with high energy x-rays.
“My area of expertise is understanding the interactions of x-rays with the human body, measuring and calculating x-ray dose. There’s a lot of science that goes into it,” Anne said.
“Radiation is very dangerous, so when you’re deliberately administering it to patients to try and cure their cancer, you have to know exactly how much radiation you’re delivering and exactly where in the body.”
Although it is not feasible turning out while at work, Anne tries her best during her farm days.
“Sometimes you can’t respond because you’re in the middle of a job that you can’t leave, but with farming, you do have a bit of flexibility, so having people that can turn out during the day is pretty handy,” Anne said.
Anne feels lucky to be a part of such a great brigade with such strong culture and leadership.
“Sometimes people describe CFA as being like our family, and I really do feel like they are our extended family,” Anne said.
“The other thing I really love is keeping our community safe. People often talk about the role of CFA at big fires, but I think one of our most important jobs is dealing with the little fires, those that start on the side of the road, because we get to put them out and stop them becoming big fires.
“We get to do something to keep the community safe and prevent things getting out of control. I find that really rewarding.”
Amongst working as a team, and building greater communication and confidence, Anne said CFA has helped push her out of her comfort zone to take on things she never thought she could.
“Last year I got my truck licence and that’s something I never thought I would do, and that was done because CFA offered us that opportunity,” Anne said.
“There are now three women who have a truck licence in our brigade, so we can now turn out an all-women crew from Newstead, which is incredible – it was a bit of a milestone for us.”
Anne also has many hats within the brigade, including 4th Lieutenant, Communications Officer and Publicity and Promotions Officer – not to mention an operational firefighter.
“As the Publicity Officer, I manage advertising and our website for our markets during the year to engage with the community,” Anne said.
“I also write a monthly article for the local Newstead paper about what the brigade has been up to or some fire safety messages.
“I have been on a few strike teams over the years. The biggest local fire I’ve attended was the Harcourt fire in January this year.
“I was part of the initial relief crew for Harcourt, so although I didn’t get there on time to be part of the day crews, I was able to do the night shift.
“It was pretty dramatic, it’s the first big fire we’ve had in our area, and we personally know people who lost their house, so it did hit close to home.”
If you’re interested in joining CFA or learning more about volunteering, visit www.cfa.vic.gov.au/volunteer.