MAGPIE, VIC. — Two members of the Meredith Fire Brigade have got married – to each other.
In early October, Mitch and Amber Miller swapped their turnout gear for formal wear to celebrate their wedding in Magpie in front of family, friends and fellow CFA members.
As a nod to their CFA links, Amber arrived in style aboard a 1924 Garford pumper, owned by her step-grandfather, Horsham brigade member Ray Carman.
High school sweethearts, Mitch and Amber’s relationship is built on a shared commitment to community service, supporting one another’s goals and growing together as CFA volunteers.
We caught up with Mitch and Amber to hear how their relationship began, what inspired them to join CFA and how their shared passion for volunteering and their community shapes their lives.
Mitch
We first met in Year 7 in High School. We were in separate classes but came together for physical education (PE). Both classes were pretty competitive, so it was generally dodgeball or something similar. I may have knocked her out of a game, which led to a trip to the nurse’s office!
We obviously knew each other after that, but towards the end of high school we became closer as our friendship groups merged and we spent more time together.
I joined CFA when I was 16. And then, once we started dating, I kept leaving Amber for fires, so I kept bugging her to join as well. There was one incident where we went directly to the scene, and she took my car home while I jumped on the truck. I think she sort of felt left out then. I remember saying, “I want you to join so we can volunteer together”.
After that, she made the decision to join.
I’m the first one in my family to volunteer with CFA. Dad followed me in, initially just to look after me as a younger member.
My first memory of CFA was a kindergarten visit. After that, I just always had a fascination with it, and I’ve always liked the bush. And as I grew older, that fascination grew into a desire to want to help people and give back to the community.
I also saw it as a challenge, and that fuelled a desire to keep going. The skills I have now are probably things I never would have considered pursuing if I hadn’t joined CFA. Being part of the first Arduous Firefighting team and working out in the middle of the bush, blacking out fires – I just love it. I’ve been able to learn and develop so many different skills.
Amber and I both live pretty busy lives. Amber plays basketball and umpires football, while I play football. We also help manage the family farm.
I know it used to drive Amber a bit crazy when she wasn’t part of CFA in the early stages of our relationship. But now she’s a member; she understands why I do it, and nine times out of 10 we can jump on the truck together.
It’s shown me another side of her. She’s come out of her shell a lot more. She’s participated in women’s leadership days and the Women In Leadership Mentoring Program and is part of the District 7 Women’s Network.
We’ll often crew the ultralight together, which makes it a lot easier because we know each other and how we operate. We can pretty much predict what each other will do, and it’s fun being out together.
There’s always a little voice in the back of my head telling me to make sure she’s always safe. I love having her out alongside me at incidents. She’s always smiling on the truck, so you can always guarantee it will be a positive experience.
Some of our most memorable experiences have been working together at big fires, including Mount Mercer, where we spent a lot of time blacking out. We also had the unusual experience of responding to a call at 5am on my brother’s wedding day.
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most is seeing Amber grow as a firefighter and leader, including stepping up as a crew leader. It’s been great to see her develop her skills and confidence.
CFA is a pretty big part of our lives, so we wanted to include a bit of it in our own wedding. It’s where we spend so much of our time and we’re both pretty involved in the local community. In addition to having some of our fellow members and captain attend, Haddon’s captain was also our DJ and MC!
Everyone around the brigade is awesome. It’s like having a second family. They’re always there to help when you need it and you can do the same for them.
Most importantly, it’s about being able to help the community when they need it.
Amber
Mitch and I first met in Year 7 PE class. Our classes were held at the same time, so we often found ourselves playing against one another.
I particularly remember one game of dodgeball. I was still in the game when, all of a sudden, I saw a ball flying towards me. I barely had time to react before it hit me square in the face, sending me straight to the ground.
The game was paused while the teachers checked that I was okay. They then called Mitch over and asked him to walk me to the nurse’s office to get checked out.
I joined CFA about three years ago, after Mitch had been encouraging me to join for a while. I always felt like it was something I could never do. At the time, I didn’t think I was physically capable of it. I thought there was no way I could be an operational firefighter.
Mitch kept telling me: “No, you can do it. You can do it.”
He likes to joke that the final push came when he ditched me on my birthday to fight a fire in Dereel. But it was also about wanting to help the community.
I joined Meredith because that’s where Mitch was and where we were planning to live in the future. Meredith is an awesome brigade. We’re all pretty tight-knit and supportive of one another.
I thought I would go through General Firefighter training, and if I didn’t like it, I could always go back to being a non-operational member. But after completing my training and going to my first callout, I knew it was where I wanted to be.
Volunteering has thrown me into situations I never thought I could handle. It takes me out of my comfort zone, and I feel like it’s given me that little self-confidence boost that I needed.
I love the rush of knowing you’re about to go and help someone who is having the worst day of their life. Just being there to support them and help in any way you can is really rewarding.
CFA and the Meredith Brigade have also become like a second family to me. Being a member has brought me out of my shell a lot. I used to be very timid and keep to myself but now I feel like it’s pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me become that little bit more outgoing.
Being part of the same brigade has brought Mitch and me closer too. We get to turn out together often. Sometimes Mitch is the crew leader, and I’m a crew member. He definitely gets serious in that role, and it’s funny watching that switch happen.
On the fireground, he doesn’t really look at me as his partner; he looks at me as another crew member. Then, when he switches out of crew leader mode, he goes back to being his normal, fun, playful self.
Being involved in CFA gives us another thing to share. We’ve always been a couple who don’t just sit around; we’re always doing something. Our schedule is pretty chaotic, so CFA fits into that and gives us another shared purpose.
One of my favourite CFA memories is actually from our wedding day. We had a spare name tag from Mitch’s family lying around, so I got to put my new Miller name tag on my turnout gear. Getting to capture a photo of both of us wearing our Miller tags on the same day we got married was really special. It was such a simple thing, but it meant a lot to me.
We’re not going anywhere anytime soon. I think we’ll always be part of CFA, at least until we get to the point where we physically can’t get onto a truck anymore. Then we’ll probably drop back to being non-operational members, so we can still be heavily involved in the brigade.
Joining CFA has given me so much more confidence, a second family and the opportunity to help my community. And I get to share all of that with Mitch, too.
