By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
MICHAEL Lia may be quietly spoken but his words are succinct.
“The most important turn is whether to go right or left out of the station,” he said.
The 60-year-old senior station officer at the Hallam CFA is a stalwart of both the local brigade and the surrounding suburbs, having spent most of his life living in Doveton and the surrounds.
After more than 30 years with the CFA, Mick – as he affectionately known by his comrades – is showing no signs of slowing down, being as passionate about the brigade and protecting the region as he was when he first began as a volunteer in the early 1980s.
“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” he said.
Mick first volunteered with the Doveton CFA in 1982 before gaining employment as a career firefighter the next year, which saw him work at a number of stations including Boronia, Springvale and Dandenong.
Mick had already been working in the earth-moving industry for 10 years before turning to the CFA for his next challenge.
“My dad was a policeman and I watched the hours and the shift work and thought that wasn’t t for me,” he said.
“But I had a neighbour in Doveton, he was with the local footy club as a trainer and he was also a senior firefighter with the MFB.
“I had a few chats with him and thought this sounds like a nice stable career.”
He was about 19 when he had that chat with his neighbour but it wasn’t until several years later that Mick began with the CFA.
And while he’s served at many stations, he was inevitably drawn back to Doveton and later the new station at Hallam, which has now been up and running for more than a decade.
Mick’s a bit of a history buff when it comes to the local station.
First there was the Hallam rural brigade, built in 1947, then the Doveton Brigade took over in October 1959, which was later replaced 11 years ago by the Hallam CFA, which currently sits along Belgrave-Hallam Road and houses both career and volunteer firefighters – about 30 and 20 respectively.
Mick said the Doveton brigade was set up following a request from those who were overseeing the big local factories at the time.
“It was created because the three industries along the highway – Heinz, GMH and International Trucks – those American companies wanted a fire service that had paid firefighters, that was their requirements,” he said.
And when those factories eventually closed, it not only had a flow-on affect for local jobs, but Mick noted that it became much harder to find shift workers who would be willing work the more obscure hours at the CFA.
It’s not the only change he has seen, with Mick noting the positive influence of having more women wanting to join the CFA.
Mick also said the CFA now had more responsibilities, in addition to the fires and car accidents, the latter of which make up many of the incidents that the Hallam crew is called out to in Casey.
The CFA units are also called to Emergency Medical Response (EMR) incidents.
The Hallam CFA receives 1800 to 2000 calls a year, with the EMR program adding to the call rate, which sees CFA firefighters now called out for medical support and required to administer CPR if they arrive before paramedics.
Now as much as ever, Mick emphasises the importance of keeping his CFA work and his family life separate, a distinction that has made it possible for him to excel for more than three decades in a job he loves.
“I draw on life experience, you’ve gotta put things away, but everyone’s different,” Mick said.
“Once I finish the job, I walk out the door, done.
“I don’t get emotionally involved. If you do, you won’t last very long.”
