By Derek Schlennstedt
If you drove through Kallista on Wednesday 25 July, you may have seen a number of CFA vehicles parked in the main street and thought that a large emergency operation was underway.
Instead, Kallista, Monbulk and Sassafras CFA units were undertaking a community focused training exercise.
Over 30 CFA volunteers and six CFA tankers descended on the main street of Kallista to liaise with tradespeople and build a community plan for the future.
The first-time event incorporated Kallista Traders into what was called the ‘Kallista Village Major Asset Protection plan’ or ‘KVMAP’
Kallista CFA Captain Peter Toender said KVAMP had been three months in the making and was organised so that they could update town layouts, seek out new hazards and ultimately prepare a fire plan for the village that could be used in both winter and summer.
“It hasn’t been done before and for us has uncovered some very important things,” Captain Toender said.
“It’s us updating our pre-plans which is a document we carry in the vehicles that details where the power board or gas meter is, as well as identifying if there’s any sort of hazmat or asbestos – it details any sort of issues we might face.”
“It’s also about making the traders aware of things that might not be correct or right.”
Over a period of hours separate groups of CFA volunteers met with shop owners and identified any possible hazards as well as addressing any concerns the owner might have.
Mirakye McCarty, owner at Epoche, Kallista was comforted by the knowledge that her local CFA was taking such a proactive response in planning for future events.
“Even them just having a sense of knowing how we are spatially organised and just a sense of where boundaries begin and end is really comforting,” she said.
“Just to have that relationship and that familiarity with them is comforting.”
