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Lulu Smith
When Lulu Smith of Arkles Bay turned 16 in May, she wasted no time signing up as a volunteer with Manly Fire Brigade.
She is thought to be the station’s youngest ever volunteer – at 16 you need parental permission and support for the role.
This was something her mother, former Manly fire volunteer (and Hibiscus Matters graphic designer) Lorry McCarthy, was happy to provide.
Lulu says her mother’s time as a volunteer meant quite often hanging out at the station for social events or “waiting for mum” when she was a child.
“I grew up around the fire station and there were quite a lot of other kids my age there too,” she says.
She was also impressed by her mother’s dedication to the fire service, which Lorry fitted in with being a solo mum of two, and holding down a fulltime job.
It made Lulu keen to become a volunteer firefighter herself – she began thinking about it when she was 12.
Currently she is doing initial training with four other new recruits, most aged in their 20s. This takes 6-8 months and focuses on basic skills and knowledge, contained in a thick book described as ‘the Red Brick’.
Recruits then undertake a one-week intensive recruitment course that qualifies them as a volunteer firefighter.
Lulu is also training alongside qualified firefighters once a week. Firefighter and assistant training officer Deon Holgate says she is surprising people by picking things up fast.
Within six months she could be on the firetruck as an observer, or tasked with small jobs at callouts, he says.
He says all recruits are well prepared for the challenging and confronting scenarios they may face as a firefighter.
“As trainers we need to prepare everyone for what they are potentially going to do and see,” Deon says. “So when they attend their first car accident or fire, that training takes over.”
Lulu is thinking about going into early childhood education as a career, but says volunteering for the community is important to her.
Meanwhile, she is enjoying the training nights.
“I’m always excited to go, and it’s really nice getting to know everyone,” she says.
