Profile - Peter Taylor and Mark Owens

by Jodie Guest, CFA Public Affairs

Introducing two relatively new Operations Officer in Region 20 – Peter Taylor and Mark Owens.

Peter (on the left in this picture) began his CFA involvement in 1977 as a junior with the running team at Invermay brigade. He’s from a CFA family, with his father and uncles being involved for many years.

His CFA links continued in the Invermay senior brigade, where he was the Secretary for a period.

Peter then became a volunteer with Ballarat City and was on the Region 15 championship committee, before working as a wildfire instructor based out of Bendigo from 2000.

A mechanic by trade, Peter has also been a DSE fire management member, working with summer fire crews.

And his breadth of experience doesn’t end there – in the mid 1990s, Peter obtained a degree in Human Movement/Sports Science, majoring in psychology. He’s also been a lecturer in fire technology.

In Region 20, Peter looks after 26 brigades around Donald, Birchip, Charlton and Wycheproof.

“The best bits of the job are getting out and meeting people. They relate their experiences and they’re straight up and down. They have no agenda, a good mix of skills and knowledge and I like working with them.”

He also enjoys the “multi-dimensional” aspects of the job, such as fire investigation, investigating water issues, and working with the Junior Fire Awareness and Intervention Program (JFAIP).

“The variety is so appealing. And I try to get a work/family balance by working on our 40 acres, which has some cows and sheep on it.”

Peter, 45, is married with four children - three girls and boy – aged from 12 to 27. He and his wife enjoy a good meal and movie and visiting regional centres.

Meanwhile, Mark joined CFA in October last year after working full-time with SES as a Regional Officer responsible for units in the Central Region, based in South Melbourne. He’d also worked in Operations at CFA Headquarters as Operations Project Co-ordinator.

Additionally, Mark, 27, was a volunteer with CFA’s Mansfield and Lilydale brigades from October 2003.

Mark said while it’s hard to capture a typical day as an Ops Officer, it can involve being rostered as a Regional Duty Officer and responding in that role, emergency management, Section 29 brigade inspections for the 25 brigades he’s responsible for, taking care of correspondence, public and brigade enquiries and ensuring the region and the RECC (Regional Emergency Co-ordination Centre) is ready for any incidents.

He also works with DSE to firm up response arrangements between the operations staff at CFA Region 20 and DSE Fire management personnel in North West Area.

Mark said the quiet fire season this summer had provided the opportunity to settle in and thoroughly learn about the region. He said some adjustment was necessary, coming from a brigade that received 350 calls each year, to a region which does less than 350 jobs annually.

But with spending a lot of time on the golf course, and going camping and four wheel driving, adjusting to life in the North West hasn’t been too difficult, he said.