David Brereton’s father was a career firefighter with the Country Fire Authority in Shepparton for 30 years.
Despite a short stint as a surveyor and volunteer firefighter, David, 31, knew his future was tied to the CFA.
“I was a surveyor for about six years and it was a great job, but this is what I’ve always wanted to do,” Mr Brereton said.
He is one of 18 new career firefighters to have joined the CFA’s full-time crew of more than 700 for 2015.
Mr Brereton has been deployed to Craigieburn station after completing an intensive 16-week training course.
Training wrapped up with a graduation ceremony in mid-December and the following weekend Mr Brereton married his girlfriend, a school teacher in Roxburgh Park.
Asked what he most enjoys about his new job, Mr Brereton nominates long stints outdoors and the rewarding nature of the work.
Michael Scicluna, a former educator from Sale, has also been posted to Craigieburn to work alongside Mr Brereton, three other career firefighters and a team of volunteers.
The 30-year-old said he was looking forward to the physical nature of the job.
“Every day is different and you get to work with like-minded people whose sole focus is to protect their local community,” he said.
The new firefighters are now completing intensive on-the-job training.
The new recruits bring to 211 the number of additional career staff recruited by the CFA since 2011.
