Keeping the community safe

The 31-year-old primary school teacher and personal trainer from Ellenbrook says she has always been an active person.

‘I just want to get in and get things done,’ she says.

‘Seeing what I do helps people (and) makes me keep on doing it.’ West Swan Bushfire Brigade, run by the City of Swan, has been saving lives and property for the past 52 years.

‘We are volunteers, so work and family commitments are a big priority, but we’ll still go out to help with a fire whenever we are called,’ she said.

Ms Altham said the past month had been harrowing for firefighters.

A series of deliberately lit blazes across the Swan Valley had resulted in many of the volunteer brigades being on-call 24/7.

‘There’s been so many fires in the past few weeks,’ she said.

‘We get called the same time as Ellenbrook Fire and Rescue and our appliances back them up in keeping the community safe.

‘We have had one to two calls almost every night for the past month ” there has been 15 alone in the past two weeks,’ Ms Altham said.