By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
“IT WAS one hell of a shotgun start.”
Literally, it was like walking into hell.
It was Matt Staple’s first day on the job as a staff firefighter at the Hallam CFA. He’d been there just five minutes before he was called out to a fully-involved house fire in Doveton.
The 24-year-old went inside the burning wreck with his leading firefighter. Inside the building the temperature reached 500 degrees.
“You can’t really top a house fire on your first day,” Matt said with a smile.
“It’s one of those stories they tell everyone on recruits. Be prepared to get going from the very second you get on the station – so that’s what I did.
“The construction of it really insulated it well. It was a pretty hot one. You just focus; I wasn’t freaking out or anything.
“You just get in there and think about it later.”
Matt may seem young for this line of work but he’s worked more than a little hard to gain the opportunity. Despite a few knock-backs by the CFA as he tried to become an employed member, Matt signed up as a volunteer down in the Latrobe Valley where he honed his craft, before applying again.
“They really want to see perseverance,” Matt said.
“There weren’t too many in my age group so they just want to make sure you’re the right person.
“You could always just say there were people that were better than you at the time.
“I didn’t take it too hard. I just got back on the horse and pushed through and got there in the end.”
Matt said most people who apply for the job had dreamed of being a firefighter, and he’s no different.
“You work so hard for it,” he said.
“And you finally get here and it’s like, this is awesome. So you throw everything at it, which can sometimes be a little bit too much, but that’s alright.
“The learning curve doesn’t stop from there, it keeps going, which has been fantastic.
“You just keep working, it doesn’t stop.”
One of the men he worked with in the Latrobe Valley was Brendan McKay – formerly of the Morwell CFA, now also at Hallam – who is more than a bit of mentor to Matt.
“Each brigade’s got its own significant risks,” Brendan said.
“Down in the Latrobe Valley the main aim of integrated stations is probably due to the power industry and protecting that asset down there. That’s the main reason we’re down there.
“Up here (Hallam) we’re on the fringe of urban Melbourne and it’s just the call rate that forces permanent staff to be here.
“The multitude of calls, the hours the calls are at, it’s a really big drain on the volunteer force and I’d argue, others might argue differently, but I’d argue that it’s pretty hard for them to keep up with it.”
The Hallam CFA receives 1800 to 2000 calls a year, around three times what Morwell was receiving, Brendan said.
The Emergency Medical Response (EMR) program has also added to the call rate, with CFA firefighters now called out for medical support and required to administer CPR if they arrive before paramedics.
“This job is about bettering yourself over the whole journey,” Brendan said.
“Even guys that have been here for 30 years, they’re learning something every shift.”
