Not even a mega downpour on 11 May deterred families from heading to the Open Day at Kiama Fire Station, which has become one of the region’s main annual attractions.

Five-year-old Lachlan Rossiter had been “waiting for days for the fire day!” And the big day finally came for Lachlan, who attended with his dad, Cam Rossiter, and younger brother, three-year-old Ollie Rossiter. 

It was the third Open Day at Kiama Fire Station that they’ve attended. The 2024 edition definitely met their expectations. Lachlan shared that he liked holding the fire hose and going into the cab of the fire truck the most.

The brothers were proudly wearing their orange ‘Fire and Rescue’ helmets. They do come in handy, if you’re going to help a tall, grown-up fireman or -woman.

Because once a year, during the Fire Station Open Day (which is a statewide event), firefighters at Kiama Fire Station get to do a bit of ‘show and tell’ about the fire trucks, station and, above all, the important work that they do in and around Kiama.

“Yeah, it’s really good to see everyone here,” said Kiama Captain, Rhys Dawson. “To get a good understanding of what we do, and also ask questions about any fire safety measures that can be implemented in the home.”

“For us, to push the home fire safety message in,” he underlined. 

The most common type of kitchen fire

There was a kitchen simulator on display, just outside the back of the fire station. Deputy Captain, Brian Guillaumier, stood ready to demonstrate what to do and - equally crucial - what not to do if there’s a kitchen fire. It is, as it turns out, the most common type of house fire. 

“It’s always a handy thing to know, especially when it comes to cooking fires,” said Captain Dawson. 

“And to make sure that we got those preventative measures such as fire blankets and fire extinguishers (which you can purchase relatively cheaply from somewhere like Bunnings, for example).” 

Deputy Captain Guillaumier agreed. “That is 12 bucks well spent, if you ask me,” he said. 

Parents and children lined up under the protection of the roof, close enough so that they could see the sink, but within a safe distance from what was about to happen.

On the stove stood a saucepan with only 10 millilitre of oil in it. But it can cause a lot of damage, especially if left unattended.

Ablaze. The Kiama firefighters simulate what a fire in the kitchen looks like, caused by only 10 ml of oil.

“Just give this a couple of minutes, you can see that it’s smoking already,” explained Deputy Captain Guillaumier. 

When the saucepan caught fire, firefighter Tristan Reid was at hand to quickly step in. 

“He’s simply going to put out the fire by putting a lid on it. And, you’ll see. Look at that! He puts the fire out. If he takes the lid off, it’s going to catch fire again.

“We don’t use water on a kitchen fire. Use a fire blanket, a fire extinguisher and get out of the house,” stressed Deputy Captain Guillaumier. 

Make sure to have working smoke alarms in the house

Another fire safety measure is a smoke alarm.

Deputy Captain Guillaumier held one in his hand as he turned to the group. “What happens when they go off?” he asked, and put on the smoke alarm, which immediately started beeping.

“Get out of the house to the letterbox,” one girl offered up.

“Get out of the house to the letterbox,” Deputy Captain Guillaumier repeated. “Do we go back into the house? Of course, we don’t. We’re outside the house, we stay outside the house and call 000.”

If you don’t have a smoke alarm or aren’t sure if it works properly (the alarms have an expiry date and usually needs to be replaced every ten years), call on the friendly team at the fire station who offer free home safety checks. To request one, you can either call the station directly on 02 4232 1222 or go to the ‘Home fire safety’ section on the NSW Fire and Rescue’s website, www.fire.nsw.gov.au. Home safety checks are available all over Kiama. 

Boys hanging out by the fire truck (from left to right): Lachlan Rossiter, Cam Rossiter and Ollie Rossiter



“But anyone from Jamberoo and Gerringong can also request one and we generally work with the RFS (Rural Fire Service) to make that happen,” explained Captain Dawson.

Since Kiama Fire Station is an on-call station, they try to coordinate it so that all the home safety checks can be done in one day. That generally translates to once a week.

One of the most unusual questions that Captain Dawson was asked during the Open Day is what daily life is like for a firefighter.

Wanted: On-call firefighters

Now, it’s a bit different because they’re on-call firefighters, which means that they also work other jobs. 

“In our days off, we carry a pager. The pager activates whosoever is on at that time, we’ll come to the station, we’ll get the fire trucks, go and help the community,” said Captain Dawson.

Currently, there’s a full on-call staff of 21 firefighters. Plus the trucks. There are two of them: an urban trucker and a bushfire tanker.

“At the moment, we are sitting at 17 and do have a couple of vacancies,” continued Captain Dawson. 

“If anyone is interested in becoming a retained firefighter, you can log onto the NSW Fire and Rescue’s website and there’s an area where you can apply under, called ‘On-Call Firefighters’. It gets filtered through to the local zone office for consideration.”

Family Reid at the Kiama Fire Station (from left to right): Bec Reid, Beau Reid, Tristan Reid and Olivia Reid.

He suggested that if you’re interested in applying, remember to check out the criteria. If there are any questions, you can always call the station or the zone office at Wollongong.

“But again, if you’re applying, we’re more than happy to have a look anyone. Please consider applying,” he encouraged.

Bec Reid’s husband, Tristan, is an on-call firefighter. It’s the second time that she and their two children, three-year-old Olivia and two-year-old Beau, are at the Open Day event. Olivia beamed that she was having fun while she pulled out the fire hose and jumped into the fire truck.

Like many others in attendance, Olivia and Beau greatly enjoyed being with their dad at the fire station. It was a day sure to be remembered.

Photo credit: Malin Dunfors & Bec Reid