NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) ran a village firefighter training course last weekend.

The course was run entirely by local experienced volunteer firefighters who passed their knowledge onto their younger brethren.

The course ran from Friday to Sunday and taught the volunteers how to better deal with a fire in a village.

They sat down to do theory before running through some scenarios – where they could put their new fire fighting techniques into action.

“The basic fire fighting course, when they first join up to RFS, teaches them the basic skill of bushfire fighting, how to turn the pumps on and how to roll their hoses,” NSW RFS Inspector Matthew Ross said. “The village fire-fighter training course, that course is teaching the fire-fighters how to deal with car fires and structure fires and that sort of thing they might find in villages.”

The course not only taught the volunteers how to deal with various types of fires but also the hazards to look for when arriving at a scene.

14 volunteer RFS members from Leeton, Griffith, Rankins Springs, Barellan and Darlington Point attended the training.

The RFS covers the outlying areas of Griffith – while Fire and Rescue NSW takes care of calls in town – and are always looking for new recruits based in these areas.

“Most of the people around here (who volunteer) are already farmers, already have their own professions and just looking to either help the community out a bit or meet new people,” Inspector Ross said.

“In outlying areas and further out of town, brigades are usually the old faithful guys who have had their name on the books for years and years.

“It’s hard to get new guys involved these days, family pressures, more people living in town and commuting out to farms in the outlying areas, so we're always happy to hear from more people.”

​For information on how to become a volunteer fire-fighter, call the RFS on 69667800 or head into their office at 200 Wakaden Street.