In the line of fire

ANDREW Merlo wishes he had the Emerald fire brigade as a support network when he first moved to the town eight years ago.
He had endured a nightmare 12 months, which included a marriage break-up and his father’s tragic passing.
“The brigade would have been a real support – I didn’t see my kids for 14 months,” Andrew said.
“I had a lot of black dog days and it was a real lonely existence.”
In fact, he says he wished he’d joined the CFA 30 years ago as a sprightly twenty-something.
Instead, now at 58, he’s still a youngster in firefighting terms. He joined the Emerald brigade just three years ago, but it already runs rich in his veins.
He was destined to become a firefighter – had he known the signs as they struck him.
It started with his love affair with the Woods Point township, dating back to the mid-1970s.
In 2009, after settling in Emerald, he snapped up a house to later retire in the tiny 37-person community.
“Because of the (2006) Alpine fires, a couple was prepared to put their property on the market and move to a safer place – Marysville,” Andrew said.
“But this was pre-Black Saturday.”
He had expressed an interest in joining the Emerald CFA just months prior to his Woods Point purchase.
“I thought, while I’m a resident in Emerald, why not begin here?” he said.
“Being a very active brigade, I knew it’d start me off in great stead with training.
“I was 55 then.”
Andrew’s baptism of fire into the CFA ranks was a literal one.
“My first training session as an Emerald recruit was the Wednesday after Black Saturday,” he said.
“That hit home pretty hard. I’d become a member of the CFA, attended my first training session and my instructors were just off the fire ground – they still hadn’t got their gear cleaned and were still on strike teams.”
The impression they left was a lasting one.
“I just thought, ‘Well how good are these guys?’ ” Andrew said.
“I saw it as a tremendous learning curve but the whole thing really just appealed to me – even though I was in my mid-fifties.”
He relished “starting at the bottom”, learning from experienced firefighters half his age.
“The mateship and the social side of the Emerald brigade is extremely strong,” Andrew said.
“I’ve made some fantastic friends in life and the whole experience has been outstanding.”
Six months after commencing his minimum skills, Andrew was declared an operational CFA member.
“My first turnout was a burn-off out of control in Nangana, on the Woori Yallock road,” he said.
“Everybody said you’d have a dry mouth, your stomach would be churning and your adrenaline would be going – and they were right.
“It was certainly all of that!”
And now, even though he has only been operational for two years, Andrew has already attended more than 100 callouts.
“I approached the CFA at Woods Point – now my second home – and they too welcomed me on board with open arms,” he said.
“They’ve even made me their pseudo-training officer … because of my experience.
“We now train on a monthly basis (as opposed to a couple of times per year), and I’ve implemented things I’ve learned from the officers in Emerald.”
Now, after a whirlwind first few years in the CFA, Andrew is Emerald’s communications officer – holding a place in their brigade management team and taking an active role in shaping its future.
“I find it extraordinary that I’ve only been operational for two years and here I am now – in a role where I have a say in the day-to-day running of the brigade,” he said.
“The brigade has been so good to me – asking me to run for the position.
“It’s been a great honour.”
Andrew said he did not feel under-prepared for the role, thanks to the trust and knowledge his brigade mates instilled in him.
And although relatively short on CFA experience, Andrew’s life experience has proved an invaluable asset in repaying the Emerald brigade.
“It has become an integral part of my life,” he said.
“It’s a great family.
“We’ve got guys here like Ian Woodhouse, who has been a member for 47 years.
“He still turns out – I was on the back of the truck with him the other day. How good is that?”
Andrew said the Emerald brigade’s move to its new home on Monbulk Road last year typified what he loved so much about his second ‘family’ – honour and pride.
“The brigade bought all of us CFA blues (official uniforms),” he said.
“We all formed up – there was over 50 of us – and we marched from our old station to the new one.
“We were greeted by hundreds out the front and that was so special – everybody had goosebumps and almost tears in their eyes.”
Andrew hopes his “great ride” with Emerald continues for years to come, and when he finally moves permanently to Woods Point, he can bring some of that Emerald legacy with him.
“It’s been a real highlight of my life and I just want to keep giving something back.”