Filipino volunteers help save SA fire service from closure
A South Australian Country Fire Service brigade has been saved from closure by an influx of members from the local Filipino community. The brigade has doubled the number of volunteer members, ensuring the CFS's longevity in the small town of Port Wakefield, while also fostering cross-cultural connections.
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TVTranscript
00:00 Just 18 months ago, Port Wakefield's Country Fire Service Brigade was on the brink.
00:06 With just six active members, things were looking bleak.
00:10 It was either we have to do something or the place is going to close.
00:15 Fearing the worst, the Captain initiated a recruitment campaign and the call was answered.
00:20 Samson Borkwell immigrated to Australia from the Philippines in September 2014.
00:25 He signed up to the Port Wakefield CFS and was welcomed into the fold as the first culturally
00:29 diverse member.
00:31 Then he brought his friends on board too, and now more than a quarter of the brigade's
00:34 volunteers are Filipino.
00:36 They give me a warm welcome and a good treatment.
00:41 We really made it a point to try and make them feel really welcome because we want to
00:46 keep these people and we want them to turn up and keep turning up.
00:50 We even started learning Filipino words, you know, like salamat means thank you.
00:57 With the brigade located along one of South Australia's key highways connecting Adelaide
01:01 with the York Peninsula and Spencer Gulf, volunteers here are often kept busy responding
01:05 to serious road emergencies.
01:08 With the new recruits, it's bolstered their capacity to respond to such critical incidents.
01:12 The teamwork's been great, it's fantastic.
01:14 And everyone looks after everyone.
01:16 That's made me very proud of myself that us, a Filipino, we are well known that we are
01:23 not bad people and we are really doing well in the community.
01:27 That is the best experience that I ever had.
01:31 Revitalizing a crucial community asset.
01:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]