LAST YEAR at the height of the Black Summer bushfires, Willawarrin was engulfed in flames when howling winds blew the Toorumbee Complex fires into the small community.
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The sheer level of devastation has seen huge numbers of volunteers put their hands up to join the RFS all over the country, Willawarrin has been especially lucky with 14 locals stepping up.
Among the recruits are Eddie and Margueritte Flower, who had only been in the Macleay for a year when the fires tore through their new hometown.
"I was in South West Rocks on the day the fires got really bad, but Eddie stayed behind because he had a bad feeling," Margueritte said.
"He eventually came to South West Rocks with our animals, but when he tried to return home later that day, the roads were closed."
"We initially thought we had lost our house; the fires had come very close," Eddie said.
"Fortunately, when we eventually able to return home, the house was still intact, we were fortunate."
"At the time, we did our best to chip in around the community, that's what made us decide to eventually join the RFS, if anything like this happens again, we want to be able to help our community."
Another addition to the brigade is Shari Knox, a banker by trade, but she has always had the idea of joining the RFS in the back of her mind.
"I've lived in the area for 16 years, I always wanted to join the RFS, but with kids and everything else, I didn't have the time," she said.
"I actually started the process last year, but when the fires hit, everything was obviously put on hold, then we've had COVID-19, I've only recently been able to join."
Matt O'Meara has been hearing stories about the RFS all his life, his father Barry is a 24-year member and made sure to instil the importance of the organisation in his son every chance he got.
"Dad has been telling me to join since I was about ten years old, I've learnt a lot from him over the years, " Matt said.
"I just happened to come home the day after the fires hit last year, dad ended up losing everything, luckily mums house was saved by my brother, he saw it coming and rigged up a sprinkler system.
"After everything calmed down, I decided the time was right to finally join; since then, I've been at the RFS shed every week."
Willawarrin RFS brigade captain Paul Younie has been thrilled by the sudden influx of so many new people.
"A lot of our new volunteers are people who have been thinking about joining the last few years, but finally decided to step up after the Black Summer Bushfires, they are a good group," he said.
"Anybody else who is thinking about joining the RFS, I would encourage them to get in touch today, it's never been a better time to join.
"You don't have to be a front line firefighter; there are roles to suit everyone."
Anybody interested in learning more about the RFS can visit www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer.
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