Meet the young volunteer responding to Cervantes emergencies

On any given weekend, 22-year-old Luke Johnson might be cutting someone out of a car wreck, fighting a structure fire, or spending days on the frontline of a bushfire. What started as a high school program has become a long-term passion for giving back.

Luke has been volunteering with the Jurien Bay Emergency Service Cadets and Cervantes Volunteer Fire & Emergency Services Brigade for five years, first stepping up at just 15. He now holds three roles within the brigade: Firefighter, Apparatus Officer, and Chief Instructor, responsible for training the next generation of cadets.

What do you enjoy about volunteering?

I find it super rewarding seeing the juniors come up into adult volunteering following the same path I did and also going on jobs, nothing is ever the same and you’re forever learning. It’s also nice being able to help people on what might be their worst day and help get them the help they need.

Looking back to when you joined as a cadet, what has volunteering given you that you don’t think you would have gained elsewhere?

Volunteering has given me a sense of belonging and a second family I never thought I would have. I have gained so many skills that I would get no where else and learnt so much about a multitude of things whether that be fire and how it moves and works, vehicle construction and many different life skills from all of our volunteers that come from all walks of life.

With bushfires, storms and other emergencies becoming more common, how important do you think it is that young people are involved in emergency services?

They are the future of our emergency services, without them everything we are doing now is in vein. We absolutely must have young people getting keen and getting involved because without them coming up to fill our spots it wont take long and there will be no one left to do it.

If more young people volunteered, what do you think WA communities would look like in 10 years’ time?

A much safer place for sure. Volunteering has had a massive impact on me, I basically skipped over that stupid teenager space because it kept me occupied and I saw firsthand what could happen to me (especially driving) and I feel that volunteering with the VFRS has made me a very safe driver I comparison to many people my age. If more young people were volunteering I feel the communities would be much safer on the road and off as if you get involved in a good thing like this I feel one must be much less likely to get involved in drugs and whatnot.

If one young person your age who has never volunteered reads this story, what’s the one thing you’d want them to know?

Bite the bullet, don’t be afraid to pop in to your local fire brigade, SES, marine rescue or SJA subcentre and just see what it’s all about. Be that first person in the friend group to jump in and change your life for the better.