Tynong Fire Brigade gives unusual support
An urge to help, but how, was the reaction of many people as bushfires ravaged East Gippsland and southern New South Wales last month.
After watching television and reading about the devastation to wildlife Tynong Fire Brigade Support Team, a group that backs up its local active firefighters and CFA brigade, identified an opportunity to do “just one tiny but significant thing”.
That was to make pouches for animals to live in while they recovered from burns and other health impacts.
The bottom line was that at the end of two days an incredible 668 items were on their way to wildlife carers.
Behind that bottom line was an equally, and possibly greater, story.
Tynong support group’s Denise Vanderveer best summarised it:“What started out as a day to sew a few pouches became so much more. It became a sewing marathon, a social event, a feast, a collection point for donations, a way for people to connect over the shared horror of what was happening in our beautiful country,” she reflected.
Not only did a posting on the Tynong Fire Brigade Facebook page rally some locals – it was hoped about 15 people would turn up to help out for a day at the brigade’s building – but the message reached far and wide.
People came from Longwarry, Narre Warren and from the city to lend a hand.
Rather than 15 there were 50 people at the fire station with their sewing machines, skills, energy and, as Ms Vanderveer put it, “more food than an army could eat.
At the end of the day 63 pouches and bat wraps had been completed but there were many unfinished, metres of material and an unwavering desire to help.
People worked into the evening but it was obvious one day was not enough.
Work would continue the next day and the first day proved to be just a dress rehearsal.
By the time day two ended the number of completed items had grown more than tenfold after the number of people swelled, fabrics often bought especially were donated and work was flat out.
One family arrived with 73 completed pouches they had worked 24 hours to make and stayed on with the others at Tynong to make more.
Every single contribution was special, Ms Vanderveer said, and comments repeated over and over were along the lines that “thank goodness Tynong CFA is doing this; I felt useless and it gave me a way to help, I just wanted to do something”.
There have also been some unexpected flowon benefits.
Three of those that helped the effort have joined the Tynong brigade’s support team and an inquiry made that could lead to a new active firefighting member.
The support team raises funds for the brigade, plans events, cleans fire trucks after call-outs and makes meals for the firefighters when they return tired and grubby.