Havent heard a dicky bird from Vic firefighters union boss who was forever in the news, parading around in his 'turnout gear' generally pissing off the volunteers as he made us feel like second class firfighters while pontificating the virtues of paid firefighters. Havent seen or heard from him and I bet his turnout gear is as clean as the day he got it. I'm happy to be proved wrong but my guess is that he hasnt been anywhere near the fireground. RE your comments above, I support them and would add that apart from the support a broader member can bring to a brigage, in return you will find friendship and a sense of community spirit being a member and age is no barrier.

The fire fighters are not the only ones who need support.

There is also a lot SES Volunteers  also assisting fire fighters.

None of them are paid unless they spend at least 10 days. SES crews are on deployment for 4 - 5 days so they don't get any compensation at all. They need help so they can pay their bills and feed their families too.

The same situation applies to other voluntary emergency services volunteers who do first aid. Crews often get ash in their eyes whic have to be treated properly.