Maisie Pilli, 18, faced her first campaign fire this summer alongside her family. Maisie joined CFA through her high school youth group, and has played a huge role in supporting her community this summer.
Maisie is a member of the Corryong Brigade alongside her sister Dara, brother Angus, and father and brigade captain Matthew.
Maisie says she has learned many life skills through CFA experiences and has been able to use these in recent extreme events.
Her roles as firefighter and training officer has meant she’s been heavily involved with the recent fires that hit the North East.
“I’ve been in and out of vehicles, in the Incident Control Centre, on the fire trucks and monitoring the hospital and its safety,” Maisie said.
“It’s been pretty hectic; emotionally it can be draining. But we have a great peer support team around us to make sure we are feeling okay and happy.”
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Maisie first started to learn about firefighting in the youth crew that’s run through her high school along with two other schools.
The crew would get together six times a year to learn about what it takes to be a firefighter. Different activities were taught allowing them to gain experience in firefighting in a safe environment.
“The youth group crew was an amazing step forward for both me and my best friend; it opened doors for us to get into a CFA brigade,” Maisie said.
She decided to join the crew because of its outstanding reputation.
“The youth crew is a supportive environment to open up and learn about what’s really important to help people.
“You got to meet a range of people from different districts. I’ve got some lifelong friends now who are all in fire brigades.”
Maisie continues to support her community as a CFA member and would even like to become a career firefighter one day.
