Welcome to the Unpaid Professionals, a fortnightly podcast where we will be sharing the real stories of the different members of the 560+ Western Australian Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades with you and delving into what it is that drives them to volunteer and what it’s really like behind the scenes.
Over 75% of the 26,000 firefighters in Western Australia are members of the 560+ different Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades in the state, these volunteers belong to the bush fire service.
A huge difference between volunteers belonging to this service and the other firefighting services in the state is that they are administered and trained by their local government, depending on which region they belong to, whereas firefighters in the other services are administered and trained by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).
There are more than 110 different Local Governments that the 560+ brigades belong to, spanning the length and breadth of WA in all sorts of different climates and regions.
Click the play button below to listen to this special background episode (3 mins)
If you know of a Bush Fire Volunteer who has an inspiring or valuable story that we should document and share, please send their details to [email protected]
- Browse and listen to previous episodes of The Unpaid Professionals here.
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Unpaid Professionals is authorized by Bushfire Volunteers – ABN: 88 309 326 546. Audio track “Firecall,” © Sam Bell (2020) .
