Young firefighters put skills on display

Narrabri Rural Fire Service brigade’s young firefighters put their skills on show at the State Championships.

Both the junior and senior teams progressed through to the final held at Inverell.

The juniors finished overall in third place and the seniors came in at fifth place.

Due to COVID restraints, the competition was held at three different locations across the state for both the senior and junior streams.

The competition consisted of five timed events including:
• Fundamentals, based on fireground communications, use of electronic mapping tools, media interviews and use of social media.
• Targeted hose drills. Aiming at a target and gaining points in a 15-minute time frame.
• Portable pumping, pumping as much water as possible from multiple locations in an allotted time frame.
• Using multiple hoses and branching pieces to hit four targets simultaneously in the quickest time possible with minimal water use.
• Problem solving and map reading.

The senior team consisting of Phil Davies (crew leader), Jock Smith, Shauna Cassidy and Aimee Fladrick acquitted themselves well and came away with two firsts out of the five events.

They finished a creditable fifth overall.

The junior team consisting of Charli Cassidy (crew leader), Alistair Wheeler, Bodee Scott and Riley McClenaghan, however, exceeded all expectations coming away from the day with two firsts and a second.

They finished third overall in the state in the junior competition.

The juniors also notably outscored some of the senior competition teams in some of the events.

Crew leader for the junior team, Charli Cassidy grew up with the RFS playing an important part of family life.

She was excited to see the junior and senior teams progress through to the final.

“It’s a big learning experience,” she said, of being involved with the organisation.

Brigade captain Greg Cassidy said having two teams in the finals was a huge achievement by the brigade and the response by the RFS head office during the presentation showed just how high the Narrabri Rural Fire Service brigade is regarded.