The East Torrens Group welcomes new members to the CFS.
The most obvious position in the CFS is the firefighter – but it is not the only job. There are many other roles in CFS that do not require a member to respond to emergencies on the back of a fire truck – but are a vital part of dealing with an emergency.
There are three categories of membership in the CFS – Cadets, Operational Support & Firefighter
Cadets
CFS Cadets
The CFS accepts members from the age of 11 years, although not all brigades in the East Torrens Group currently accepts cadets.
Cadet members are not permitted to attend call outs of any sort, but under certain conditions may attend controlled burn off’s.
Cadets take part in training sessions, which may include the use of pumps & hoses, using CFS equipment, first aid, map reading and more.
If your nearest brigade does not have cadets, it is possible to join another brigade.
If you are interested in joining as a cadet, please contact your nearest brigade for information.
Operational Support
Operational Support – Catering Operational Support members are aged from 16 years upwards. Generally, Operational Support members do not respond to emergencies on the fire truck, but look after many “behind the scenes” functions.
An Operational Support member may look after radio communications, catering, administration, logistics, incident management functions, IT and more.
Training is provided to Operational support members.
Firefighters
Firefighters The CFS accepts males and females aged from 16 years upwards as firefighters.
Firefighters are the most visible members of the CFS, who attend emergencies on a fire truck.
Tasks undertaken can vary greatly, depending on the equipment the brigade carries, and the type of incident attended.
A firefighter can be expected to extinguish fires – including rural, vehicle & building fires, remove fallen trees from roadways, undertake traffic control, assist at the scene of road crashes and much more.
All training is provided at no change, with ongoing training provided. Many of the CFS training courses are nationally accredited.
If you are interested in becoming a member, please contact your nearest brigade for further information.
Joining Requirements
If you are interested in becoming a member of the CFS, the first thing is to decide which brigade to join. If you are interested in being a firefighter, or an operational support member with an intention to undertake radio communications, you need to live, or work nearby to the station. Due to the emergency nature of the CFS, should you be able to respond, you need to do so within a few minutes.
If you intend to undertake other duties, a quick response time is not essential.
Once you have decided what brigade to join, you need to approach the brigade – either ring, (see contact details for the brigade of your choice) or attend the station on a training night.
To join the CFS, you will need to have a National Police Clearance Certificate. The brigade will provide you with the relevant forms to obtain a certificate – at no cost to you. (Please note, minor criminal convictions do not necessarily preclude you from joining the CFS.)
Upon presenting the Clearance certificate to the brigade, you can join in with brigade activities.
In order to attend incidents on the fire truck, you MUST complete a Basic Firefighting Course – known at BF-1.
The training course is provided free of charge, and is presented within the local area on a regular basis.
The CFS also provides all relevant Protective Clothing – helmet, boots, gloves, firefighters coat & pants.
Whats In It For Me
What’s in it for me?
Often when people talk about community groups, we hear a lot about how they benefit the community, how nice it is to help out etc etc, but nowdays, with many people living busy lives, with demands from work, family, social life and other activities, why would you want to join something else that will take up time, just because to someone, somewhere, thought it sounded like a nice thing to do?
How about “What’s in it for me?”
There is a wide range of benefits available to the individual who joins the CFS.
CFS is also an actvity the whole family can get involved with. Have you got teenagers? Want to do something together, but playing Monoploy or beach cricket not quite enough anymore. Try CFS!
Some of the benefits include:
Learning how to deal with a wide range of emergencies
Undertaking Nationally Accredited training courses, with no monetary cost to you
Undertake First Aid Course at no monetary cost to you
For those in Year 11 & 12, the basic CFS training course can be credited towards SACE points
Work on equipment you might not otherwise handle, let alone see (eg Breathing Apparatus, Hydraulic Rescue Equipment, big trucks and more)
See places you would not otherwise travel to
Meet lots of new people
Have Fun
Having CFS experience may be helpful in obtaining a new job, make you look good in front of workmates, when you can competently deal with a small emergency in the work place, give you confidence to try new things.
While the community benefits from having a CFS brigade in its area, the benefits to an individual who joins the CFS can be limitless.
All CFS positions are open to men and women. You are not expected to know anything about firefighting, using pumps, driving trucks, squirting water, using GPS units, talking on a radio, lighting backburns, stabilising crashed vehicles, or other CFS skills – but if you join, you have the opportunity to learn all these skills, and many more!
If you already have some of these skills, we welcome you too.
But you have to take the first step, and join