ISLAND SES GROUPS IN NEED OF MORE VOLUNTEERS!
The Southern Moreton Bay Island (SMBI) SES group is made up of volunteers and with a very wet and stormy summer season already here, with more predicted, more volunteers are needed.
The State Emergency Service (SES) and Rural Fire Services (RFS) make up the volunteer arms of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service.
The SES group are those teams of people dressed in orange who turn out for just about everything on our islands whilst the RFS fire brigade volunteers, dressed in yellow and are first on hand during bush fires and fire control.
These volunteer groups don’t just turn up in times of crisis but support the island community in many other forms of volunteering.
It was the SES volunteers who managed vehicles and people traffic, during the early December Christmas parade on Macleay Island whilst their fellow RFS team in yellow, manned the fire trucks in the parade.
You really see them come to the fore during times of crisis, and they have been particularly busy during the wettest November on record at the end of 2021.
Many islanders give time to a number of groups in this capacity, such as the volunteer Fire Brigades (RFS) and the SES.
However, as most residents volunteer in some capacity, numbers are thin, and more are currently needed.
The SES SMBI volunteers are part of the Redland City SES Unit and are a small group comprising of just 15 personnel and with many newcomers and recent arrivals coming to our islands, now is the time to put your name in to volunteer, meet more people and become an integral part of the community.
You can go to the QFES website https://www.qfes.qld.gov.au/careers-and-volunteering/volunteering/state-emergency-service-volunteer to sign up as an SES or RFS volunteer or speak to one of the islands QFES volunteer groups whenever you see them out and about in their orange uniform.
• Long-serving Russell Island SES volunteer Robert Hurran at the Macleay island Christmas parade.
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