STARTING them young on the fireground, Soldiers Point Rural Fire Service Brigade has welcomed two new members to the crew after completing a high school cadet program.
Seven Tomaree High School students completed the 10 week RFS Secondary High School Cadets program and officially graduated on Monday, December 11.
Jordon Dick, Ellie Gleeson, Alex Perrine, Bailey Dennis, Cody Marrone, Kye Nicoll and Tyronne Clarke attended weekly two-hour sessions, gaining theory and hands-on experience.
Jordon and Ellie, both 16, have taken the next step and enlisted with their local brigade.
"About halfway through the course I joined the Soldiers Point brigade, my dad is a member and I know a lot of the crew," Jordan said.
Since his recruitment he has been called out to a couple of incidents including a shed fire and a minor motor vehicle accident.
"It's good on the job you have to concentrate a lot. A lot of the time with us young teenagers we're either fight or flight but you've got to put some thought into what you're doing because it can go a lot of different ways," he said.
Ellie said it was great to be part of an inclusive brigade with 20 per cent of the crew being female and she liked the idea of giving back to her community.
"It's an opportunity to give back to the community and there is a bit of action out there. The adrenaline definitely does run through you even when there's not much going on, you're ready to do anything," she said.
RFS operational officer Lower Hunter David Allan said the school-based program was about getting young people into volunteering and understanding what the Rural Fire Service is about.
"Even if they don't join but take from this ... making their own properties safer, evacuation plans, and if they've had fun, learning about what we do at the end of the day," he said.
