Michele Lovett will be ticking off 30 years as she continues to take part in the State Firefighter Championships.
The CFA Hallam captain has been involved since she was just 11 years old and competed in the juniors division, with Michele saying that “it’s always been part of our family.”
“My brother and sister were also part of Juniors and my dad has been involved in the CFA for 55 years or something ridiculous!” she said.
However, it’s not just the family aspect that Michele enjoys about the championships, but also the camaraderie and friendships that she’s made over the years.
“You go up there and you see people that you only see once a year but you know their name and they know you, some people I’ve known since juniors,” she said.
Although some time off was needed in recent years due to injury, Michele continues the championship tradition by helping to marshal the brigades off at the competitions.
“I make sure all the brigades are lined up in the order set out in the program, it’s like a roll call,” she said.
Just last year, Michele competed in the trial of the female-only event, something she described was “a dry work event so there was no water”.
“Each competitor needed to connect certain hoses together and you have to do it as fast as you can within certain rules.
“It can be quite a challenge particularly when everyone is watching you,” she said.
Michele is also quick to encourage anyone thinking of taking part in champs to “give it a go”.
“If you’re a competitive type of person, you can challenge yourself as much as you want either individually or as part of a team,” she said.
For those who aren’t looking to compete however, there are also other options where the event showcases a variety of aspects of the CFA, while allowing teams the opportunity to meet face to face.
“They’ve got all the different areas of CFA, last year the Aviation and the Personal Protective Clothing (PPC) teams were up there.
“Pretty much all of us that were up there for fitted out with the new Wildfire PPC and it was a good opportunity to speak to people in person rather than always over the phone,” Michele said.
The Victorian Fire Brigade and Country Fire Authority 2024 State Firefighter Championships will be held over the next two weekends at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve.
