Emma Pritchard

Junior members of the Grafton City Rural Fire Service (RFS) put their skills to the test over two days of intense competition at the 2022 NSW RFS State Championships earlier this month, demonstrating their impressive knowledge, teamwork and endurance across a variety of real-life challenges, coordination tasks and simulated emergency situations.

Held at the Bulli Showground between September 9-11, the event is held biennially in various locations across NSW and brings together brigades from across the state.

This year, more than 300 volunteer firefighters from 26 brigades, including seven from the Grafton City Juniors, took part in the championships.

It was an extremely competitive event with only four points separating the top three brigades at the end, Grafton City Juniors placing third overall.

Captain of Grafton City RFS Michael Rogan accompanied the local brigade to the South Coast during the championships, and said he was incredibly proud of their efforts, describing them as a great group of kids.

“It was fantastic to watch them compete, and the comradery they showed was unbelievable,” he said.

“They were given different scenarios to work through such as identifying equipment failure in the event of an emergency, what to do when they’ve exhausted nearly all their water supplies, dealing with a tear in the hose, a blocked nozzle, and the correct protocol involved with crossing a railway line and getting permission to enter a rail corridor.

“The activities were all about preparation, memorisation, coordination, and remembering your training.

“There was a lot of skill involved and we’re extremely proud of them to finish third in the state.”

The Grafton City Juniors also finished the championships with a first, three seconds and three thirds in other group coordinated activities.

Captain Rogan said members of Grafton City RFS feel honoured to have such an exciting group of kids, who range from 12 to 16 years of age, progressing through the ranks.

“We want to encourage more kids to get involved with the RFS,” he said.

“We train each month, and the kids all get in and have fun together.

“It’s great to watch them learn and develop new skills which can help save lives and it also builds their confidence.

“Events like the championships are also a great way for the brigades, especially the juniors, to get together and work under pressure, just as they would in a real-life situation.”

Captain Rogan said the Grafton City Juniors will “very likely” compete at the next NSW RFS State Championships.