22/05/2026
The theme of this year's National Volunteer Week is "Your Year to Volunteer" and we couldn't agree more so we want to keep sharing reasons why our members volunteers!
Today we're introducing you to Michael 👨🚒
Michael has been volunteering with Qld Rural Fire for approximately 10 years after initially starting with another emergency service organisation and wanting to continue helping the community - it seems volunteering is 'in his blood'! His most memorable experience was his 2020 NSW deployment when his strike team was out on patrol and a huge rain cell passed over the area ⛈️- flooding became a greater risk than fires!
Michael's best and worst experiences with RFS are linked - he loves that every callout is different, in dynamic and changing environments, requiring you to be alert and 'keeping your head on a swivel' but that comes from being ready to respond at any time, including 1am in the morning 'because someone did an oopsie' 😆
In between his work as a security guard (and previously study) Michael has assisted the brigade as a firefighter, Officer and training assistant and we're grateful for all the time he's devoted to us as a volunteer! 👏
Michael's advice to anyone thinking of volunteering is "Do it! You will find the skills and experiences you get will be useful to you far beyond rural fire. Always put your hand up, the worst they can say is no."
