THE work of the State Emergency Service (SES) in Home Hill was high-lighted at an Open Day held at the Service’s headquarters in Eleventh Avenue in October, in the lead-up to “Get Ready Burdekin” preparing for the forthcoming cyclone season in the north.
Hosted by the Burdekin Shire Council, the SES Open Day provided a fun filled three-hour event for the entire community.
The event offered an opportunity for residents to engage with their local SES and prepare for potential emergencies in an enjoyable way, as it featured a variety of activities and attractions, a free sausage sizzle, face painting for children, raffle tickets offering a chance to win a generator and an opportunity to meet the local volunteer emergency service crews.
Disaster management packs also provided valuable resources and information for emergency planning.
On hand to provide advice to visitors to the Open Day were Burdekin Local Controller, John Winn and Deputy Controllers, Warren Francis (Ayr) and Laurinda George (Home Hill).
At the present time, there are five SES members in Home Hill and about 20 in Ayr although the two teams train together for two hours every Monday evening in preparation to assist a district of up to 20,000 people.
Controller John Winn said some employers in the district do a wonderful job in allowing their SES personnel to leave their work during an emergency to assist the community.
He said they needed more people to join the SES to assist in emergency situations as five would not be enough for Home Hill if something happened.
Mr Winn said the Open Day allowed them to raise awareness of the organisation. However, he said these days, people were “too busy” to join in their activities.
