JONDARYAN grain grower Damien Cooke signed up to the Queensland Rural Fire Service 12 years ago as his way of helping the community.
Along with his parents and wife, Allison, Mr Cooke runs 800-hectare property Homeward Vale, which is a mixed beef and cropping operation.
At the time he signed up for the fire service, they were actually looking for a fire warden and that was how he “got roped into it”.
Mr Cooke is the first officer of the Jondaryan Rural Fire Brigade and said they were always looking for new members.
Coming in to bushfire season Mr Cooke said he was busy making sure crews were available, identifying risks and keeping everyone up-to-date with their training.
The team at Jondaryan has travelled into other areas to help with fires and also provided flood assistance and clean-up support at Dalby and Grantham.
“We have about 20 members at the moment, male and female ranging from early 20s up to 70s,” he said.
“There is big variety of occupations and different backgrounds, from farmers to bankers.
“There are roles for everyone - if they are not capable of doing active fire roles they can be part of the committee, maintenance, or radio support.”
Mr Cooke said the way things were looking it was going to be a bad fire season.
He said people needed to be aware and take a few precautions and encouraged landholders to check out the Prepare, Act, Survive campaign.
Melody Labinsky
Journalist for Queensland Country Life at Toowoomba.
Journalist for Queensland Country Life at Toowoomba.
