Some members who join the Brigade wish to become involved by supporting the firefighters who are out on trucks and to help with the running of the Brigade. A series of courses are available for this type of role and to start along this path one should complete the Bush Firefighter Support course.

Bush Firefighter Support

Bush Fire Support (BFS) is a program for non-fire fighting members who may operate in the vicinity of bush fires or undertake roles that support active firefighting. It is a shorter version of BF that includes BF safety and theory knowledge but not the associated physical fire fighting skills. It is specially tailored for people like station officers who man a station, or communications officers, catering and other support staff who might need to operate on the fireground, but aren’t firefighters as such.

Station Officers

Station Officers man the Mt Wilson Fire Station during emergencies and coordinate all the activities required to support operations in the field. This includes making up crews for the various shifts, communicating with the crew leaders in the field and FireComm, knowing the status of field activities,  coordinating crews and equipment into and out of the field, maintain supplies for the station and call in other support groups as they are needed. Station officers will have completed basic firefighting training and meet in pre and post fire seasons to plan and evaluate activities during the fire season.

Catering Officer

The Catering Officer coordinates the catering team and ensures food supplies in the fire station and to crews and support staff during and between emergencies.

Equipment Officer

The Equipment Officer overseas the workshop and ensures all equipment is ready for operations between and during emergencies. A specialist training program for Equipment Officer (EQO) which is an internal RFS specialist program (no national equivalent) for members who coordinate equipment care and maintenance within a rural fire brigade. It is designed to take a member with existing advanced firefighter (AF) knowledge and skills, and enable them to coordinate brigade equipment care and maintenance activities.