DROUIN WEST, VIC. — Firefighters dedicate many years to protecting communities, but when older CFA members call it a day, there are still plenty of ways they can support their communities.
Yesterday, Thursday, October 1, was International Day of Older Persons, when we celebrated the contribution of older people in society and our brigades. Today, we highlight the work of CFA member Bruce Jewell, who is continuing to make a significant contribution after a long stint of active firefighting.
Bruce, aged 67, is a seasoned crew leader, strike team leader and incident controller who’s been a volunteer with Drouin West Fire Brigade for 24 years. During that time, he has held various officer roles including six years as captain, 16 years as a lieutenant and about 10 years as training officer.
Like many long-serving volunteers, he has built a wealth of experience and continues to use those skills to support CFA in a different way.
He recently retired from his operational roles to follow his passion of educating community members. He joined the South East Region (SER) Community Safety Brigade in 2024 and decided to dedicate more time to the brigade, and this year took over as captain. This unique brigade specialises in community engagement and supports brigades in the South East Region with their engagement events.
“I’d done my time, and it was time for a change. I’m still young and fit enough to continue my involvement with CFA, so I chose to do more community engagement,” Bruce said.
“Community engagement is a very important aspect of CFA’s work. We all know that helping communities prepare for emergencies is an important part of our business and as such the more we do the better because it could potentially reduce the number of times CFA has to respond to emergencies.”
Community engagement helps people understand their risks, prepare ahead of emergencies and make informed decisions when they need to.
“Retiring as a firefighter last year gave me the opportunity to invest more time in the SER Community Safety Brigade and given my extensive background, I offered to take over as captain this year.”
Bruce’s transition highlights that members can continue to make a meaningful contribution when they step away from operational firefighting. For many volunteers, community engagement is an opportunity to stay connected to CFA while supporting safer and more resilient communities.
Bruce has been involved in community engagement for 15 years, both as a volunteer and as a part-time member of CFA staff as a community liaison bushfire engagement facilitator. He was also a member of CFA’s Community Engagement Reference Group and helped to write the role description for the community safety coordinator role that all brigades now must have.
“We have gained a lot of new members recently so my focus as captain is to build capability and prepare ourselves to deliver services,” Bruce said.
“A priority this year is to build back-end processes related to recruitment and marketing of our brigade.”
In the next few weeks, the brigade is launching an online form that brigades in the region can use to request community engagement services.
“We want brigades to reach out to request assistance.,” Bruce said. “Some brigades may not have the capability to undertake community engagement activities, and we are a specialist brigade that can help them do so.”
For volunteers thinking about what comes next, Bruce encourages members to consider how their skills and experience can continue to support CFA and their local community. There will be a time when every firefighter chooses to, or must, step down from active duties. Bruce’s advice to firefighters is uncompromising.
“Think about your future before your future catches up with you.
“If you are still young enough and enthusiastic to contribute but don’t want to be on the end of a hose anymore, community engagement is a perfect opportunity to make a difference.”
Bruce’s story is a reminder that firefighters can continue being valued volunteers after they retire from their operational roles.
Whether through community engagement, mentoring, training or leadership, experienced members continue to play an important role in helping communities prepare for and respond to emergencies.
