Device a boost for brigade’s capabilities

Volunteer firefighters in Bridgetown will receive better reception in potentially life-saving situations as a result of a donation this week.

The Bridgetown Volunteer Bushfire Brigade on Monday received a device which boosts reception.

The device — a Telstra-Go Mobile Booster — will be installed in the brigade’s incident response bus.

Bridgetown-Greenbushes community emergency services manager Lyndon Pearce said the bus had been fitted with the brigade’s communication equipment so it could be used as an incident command post at an emergency.

“It will give us boosted reception in poor communication areas,” he said.

“We have a radio onboard which allows for internal calls, but we still need to be able to call out via mobile.

“The mobile reception in the area is not always great, which is not what you want in an emergency.”

Mr Pearce thanked Telstra for the device and the support, which would benefit the whole community.

Telstra regional general manager Boyd Brown said the intention had been to install it earlier in the year, but first there was COVID-19 and then winter, which changed the brigade’s priorities.

“The brigade wrote us a letter and asked if we could assist,” he said. “We were aware of their fantastic work and jumped at the chance to help them out,” Mr Brown said.