Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Palmerston SES volunteer Marie Cunnington and Fire service volunteer Sharon Hatty

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Palmerston SES volunteer Marie Cunnington and Fire service volunteer Sharon Hatty · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Hello, Katie Wolvan three point sixty online at Mix one
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  Speaker 1: O four nine dot com.
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  Speaker 2: You Well, there is so much happening around the territory
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  Speaker 2: all the time, and we know that volunteers do such
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  Speaker 2: a phenomenal job in the community and without them, a
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  Speaker 2: lot of our wonderful events and different things that we
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  Speaker 2: do just simply would not be able to happen, to
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  Speaker 2: be pretty frank about it. And it is volunteers Week,
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  Speaker 2: and joining me in the studio to tell us a
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  Speaker 2: little bit more about volunteers Week. Palmerston sees volunteer Mari Cunnington.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: Morning Katie.
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  Speaker 2: Lovely to have you in the studio. And we've also
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  Speaker 2: got fire Service volunteer Sharon Hattie.
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  Speaker 1: How are you good?
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  Speaker 4: Thanks Katy?
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  Speaker 1: Is it Shannon or Shay? I've got it written down
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  Speaker 1: here wrong. I'm so sorry, Shay.
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  Speaker 2: And look, I know that it is volunteer Week, but
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  Speaker 2: before we get into that, I might just ask you, Mari,
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  Speaker 2: can you tell us a little bit more about Wow
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  Speaker 2: Day because Mattie Hepworth, who reads the news, and I
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  Speaker 2: were having a little bit of fun talking about Wow
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  Speaker 2: Day before tell us what it is.
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  Speaker 3: So our day is where Orange Wednesday, So it's an
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  Speaker 3: annual day where you dress up in orange YEP, and
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  Speaker 3: Joe your appreciation to sees volunteers around the nation.
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  Speaker 2: And you guys do so much, you know, so much work,
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  Speaker 2: and I think that it's really sort of evident when
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  Speaker 2: you look at things like cyclone season, when you look
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  Speaker 2: at those floods. But the reality is that you help
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  Speaker 2: out at so many different things, don't you.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we do so from storms two cyclones to floods,
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  Speaker 3: even just preparedness at like information stores and things like that.
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  Speaker 1: So it's wonderful work.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Shay, tell us a little bit more about what
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  Speaker 2: you do as a fire service volunteer, because I actually
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  Speaker 2: didn't even know that you could be a volunteer in
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  Speaker 2: this area.
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  Speaker 4: We've got lots of volunteers. I think there's about two
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  Speaker 4: hundred and twenty volunteers in the Northern Territory. So we
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  Speaker 4: basically help and back up the permanent firefighters YEP, mainly Palmerston.
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  Speaker 4: So when they get called to a grass fire, they
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  Speaker 4: then if they need us, they call on because we've
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  Speaker 4: got the girl power. And well, actually there's probably more
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  Speaker 4: female volunteer firefighters than there are men.
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  Speaker 1: That's so cool.
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  Speaker 4: Would'd be right, I think it would be. Yeah, Yeah,
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  Speaker 4: it's so cool to look into that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: So I was on call this weekend, I'm sorry, last
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  Speaker 4: weekend from Friday night right up until Monday morning. We
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  Speaker 4: got two call outs and one of the call outs
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  Speaker 4: was it's about a three hour, three hour gig. We
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  Speaker 4: help put back burns in this fray a bit of water. Yeah,
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  Speaker 4: it's really fine, it's really exciting, and it's helpful, very helpful.
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  Speaker 4: Of course, I grew up on a farm, so we
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  Speaker 4: were volunteer firefighters for most of our life because it's
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  Speaker 4: helping defend your property. So it's very important.
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  Speaker 2: It is so important, and I think, you know, in
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  Speaker 2: terms of the fire fighting, you know, when we then
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  Speaker 2: get to the dry season and we see some of
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  Speaker 2: those you know, some of the fires that we experience
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  Speaker 2: obviously in the dry that work that you do and
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  Speaker 2: that volunteering that you do is so incredibly important.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: I think we're going to be in for a big
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  Speaker 4: season this year, Katie. So we're all ready to go.
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  Speaker 4: We have lots of training, We do lots of drills.
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  Speaker 4: Every fortnight we have our drills and Northern Territory Fire
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  Speaker 4: rescue are amazing.
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  Speaker 3: We have.
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  Speaker 4: Got we've got lots of skills driving trucks.
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  Speaker 2: What's it like for both of you, you know, because
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  Speaker 2: I know that obviously a lot of us are really
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  Speaker 2: heavily involved in the community in different ways.
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  Speaker 1: But what's it like for both of you.
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  Speaker 2: Sort of being part of of different teams, because it
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  Speaker 2: does sound like it would be quite you know, like
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  Speaker 2: quite a morale, you know, like quite a good thing
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  Speaker 2: for your morale, but also you know, for being part
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  Speaker 2: of something that's really helping the community.
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  Speaker 3: Well at times of needs like after cyclones, volunteers from
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  Speaker 3: the NTFRS can actually come and assist sees yep, so
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  Speaker 3: they've got chainsaw, chainsaw and storm damage, so they can
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  Speaker 3: actually come out and assist sees on their callouts. So
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  Speaker 3: we can actually work together, and tes in vice versa
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  Speaker 3: can assist with welfare, provide water, food to bushfires.
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  Speaker 1: NT and NTFRS.
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  Speaker 3: So where we work together pretty well, I.
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  Speaker 1: Think it's wonderful.
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  Speaker 4: And we all know each other quite well too. We've
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  Speaker 4: got a really good network.
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  Speaker 1: You're friends and so Mari, how long have you been
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  Speaker 1: a volunteer for.
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  Speaker 3: I've been with the n TEST for just over five years.
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  Speaker 1: You're very cool and Shay, what about you.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I'm from New South Wales, so I was with
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  Speaker 4: RFS for since I was probably twelve, Wow, and I
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  Speaker 4: became a retained firefighter, which is a paid sort of
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  Speaker 4: on call firefighter, and when I moved here, I decided
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  Speaker 4: to join the volley. So I've only been here for
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  Speaker 4: eighteen months. Yeah, and it's very different, so I'm sort
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  Speaker 4: of learning how to fight fires here. Oh that's wonderful
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  Speaker 4: New South Wales.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I just think it's fantastic.
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  Speaker 2: You know, Like I said when we were starting the conversation,
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  Speaker 2: there's so many different times of the year where volunteers
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  Speaker 2: are needed, and without volunteers, there's so many different things.
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  Speaker 2: It simply would not run as smoothly as what they
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  Speaker 2: do across the territory. But you know, even in terms
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  Speaker 2: of different events and things, they would not be able
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  Speaker 2: to happen. Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Well a good example of that is I a volley
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  Speaker 4: friend of mine from Corpina Pery and I drove a
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  Speaker 4: fire truck down to Yolara and brought Wow another fire
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  Speaker 4: truck back. So that was an experience that I would
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  Speaker 4: never have had unless I was doing that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly right now. To anybody out there listening
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  Speaker 2: this morning who's maybe thinking, oh, I wouldn't mind being
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  Speaker 2: a volunteer, what would you say to them?
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  Speaker 3: I would just say take the plunge. You really do
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  Speaker 3: get surprised at how far you can go with volunteering,
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  Speaker 3: how much you learn, how much you can do.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it gets you out of your comfort zone. You know,
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  Speaker 4: I'm driving trucks. I've got my HR license. It's very
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  Speaker 4: scary sometimes, but.
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  Speaker 1: It sounds like it's challenging. Yeah, yeah, awesome, Yeah, good
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  Speaker 1: on you both.
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  Speaker 2: It's been lovely talking to you this morning, and lovely
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  Speaker 2: finding out a bit more about Volunteer Week and some
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  Speaker 2: of the wonderful work that you guys do. I really
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  Speaker 2: appreciate you coming in this morning, no.
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  Speaker 3: Worries, thanks for having us.
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  Speaker 4: Thanks, thank you.
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  Speaker 2: That is Will Palmerston sees volunteer there Marie Cunnington, and
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  Speaker 2: also Fire Service volunteer Shay Hattie