A significant donation of $100,000 from Gandel Foundation is helping equip many CFA brigades across Victoria with new quick-fill pumps to help protect lives and property.
The funds received from Gandel Foundation were allocated to purchase 48 quick fill pumps as part of CFA’s $4.8m District Pick List program, made up of the generous donations to CFA from all over the world during last bushfire season.
Tintaldra brigade in District 24, and Mossi-Tambo brigade in District 11 were among the fortunate brigades to receive funding for quick fill pumps through the District Pick List program.
Mossi-Tambo brigade captain Christine Bittner said it will be an important addition, as there are not many hydrants to fill their tankers.
“We use the two rivers that run through our area, and there are a lot of dams we can utilise, as well as a couple of concrete tanks, which actually had quick-fill pumps from other brigades attached to them during the summer.”
Tintaldra captain Kevin Whitehead said their brigade currently uses a quick-fill pump but the additional resource will significantly help the brigade in the large area it covers.
“You can fill a tanker in about 5 minutes, instead of drafting which requires setting up structure lines and priming the pump and sucking it up which can take 15 minutes or more.”
Gandel Foundation CEO Vedran Drakulic OAM said the Gandel family felt it was necessary to help in any way they could during the national bushfire crisis in 2019/2020.
“It was a simple decision to help out affected communities and fire services across NSW, SA, QLD and of course, Victoria,” Vedran said.
“It was becoming clear the scale of the fires was rapidly growing so the family felt it was important they do their bit to help.” More broadly, Gandel Foundation donated $1 million during the fire period to different firefighting organisations, charities and wildlife organisations assisting with the bushfire emergency in Australia.
END