EMERGENCY services volunteers were thanked for their tireless work at a sundowner hosted by Vasse MP Libby Mettam and City of Busselton mayor Grant Henley.
This year the event was held at the Sussex Station and was attended by emergency services volunteers from fire fighting brigades, marine rescue groups, St John Ambulance, SES and police.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services superintendent for the Lower South West John Tillman started the evening with a snapshot of the work done by the city’s volunteers.
Mr Tillman said the volunteer bush fire brigades have responded to 155 incidents this year and helped with major incidents which included Esperance, Yarloop and Perth.
During the Yarloop and Waroona fires there were eight appliances crewed on a 24 hour rotation over seven days which equated to 358 volunteer days or 8592 hours.
Busselton and Dunsborough volunteer fire response services have responded to 276 calls this year totalling 3200 hours and 96 road crashes with many ending in loss of life.
The Busselton and Natuariste volunteer marine services have responded to 40 incidents and conducted a training exercise with the rescue helicopter.
Mayor Grant Henley thanked all the volunteers and those who were involved in the bushfire response efforts at Waroona and Harvey.
Mr Henley said while the Busselton area had escaped a bushfire disaster like those experienced in neighbouring districts it would be naive to assume a similar disaster would not happen here.
He said increasingly hot summers, an environment prone to bushfires, a growing population and a large proportion of absentee landowners were the perfect storm.
“These conditions present communities like ours with unique bushfire challenges,” he said.
“The city is taking practical steps to meet these challenges.
“But it takes a concerted effort on behalf of the whole community to be truly bushfire ready and this is where our local bushfire brigades are so vital.”
Vasse MP Libby Mettam said last year $20 million was secured over four years for the Department of Parks and Wildlife to reduce the impact of fire through prescribed burns.
This year, Ms Mettam said 34 prescribed burns were completed in the South West forest regions covering 158,257 hectares of a 200,000 hectare target.
“A fantastic achievement,” she said.
A grievance motion will be presented by Ms Mettam in parliament this week for the state government to invest in a career fire station at Vasse.
“It will require about 20 full time staff and bring significant skills to the area, as well as provide support to local community, businesses, schools and families,” she said.
