Gagan Singh Bindra is perhaps NSW’s first Indian-origin firefighter, reports.
He recently graduated from the Fire & Rescue NSW State Training College where he was told that he was the first Indian to join NSW Fire Services.
“There is no official record of backgrounds but at the graduation they said they reckon I’m the first Indian,” he said.
Bindra first arrived in Australia from India as a student in 2004.
He started as a support worker at Villawood Immigration Detention and over six years worked his way up to managerial positions.
When asked what made him join Fire & Rescue, Bindra said, “I really wanted to do something for the community and give something back. This is a great country that has given a lot to me, and given a lot to migrants like me.”
TRANSITIONING TO FIRE & RESCUE WASN'T A CAKE WALK
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His training required Bindra to learn road crash rescue, high angle rescue, community risk management, dire science and hazardous materials response. To top it all, also learn the usage of tools.
“I am not a very mechanical person and have never dealt with tools in my life so it was a big challenge for me going into the training,” Mr Singh said.
BINDRA WANTS TO SPREAD AWARENESS ABOUT FIRE SAFETY AMONG HIS COMMUNITY
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“In India, we never took fire really seriously,” he told Blacktown Advocate.
“What most people don’t know is that most fires start in the kitchen. In NSW there were 1200 house fires in the last year. The majority of them started in the kitchen. That means fire prevention is a big part of the job — it’s not always about going to the incident.”
He will soon start work at Huntingwood Fire Station in Sydney.
DO YOU WISH TO BE A FIRE-FIGHTER? MIGRANTS ARE WELCOME
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The Fire & Rescue NSW recruitment process is highly competitive and people from cultural and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
“We hold CALD-specific information nights for members of diverse communities to come along and speak with and listen to firefighters and our recruitment team about the job and the process,” a FRNSW spokeswoman told Blacktown Advocate.
“We’ve also held familiarisation sessions for CALD community leaders where we have invited them along to see what being a firefighter is all about and how we recruit.”
