Geraldton trio fired up with new line of work

A well-known figure in Geraldton hockey circles is leaving a lucrative job as a CBH plant operator to become a career firefighter at the Geraldton Fire Station. Brett Bingham, 36, said a job with “meaning and purpose” had become more important to him since he became the father of two. “Seeing how kids evolve and grow just sparked something inside of me to want to give back and be a good role model,” he said. “I have always liked community events and have been heavily involved in the hockey association and giving back there coaching and being a board member and president. “That was really good but I had been at CBH for 11 and a half years and wanted to give something more to the community.” Mr Bingham is best known as the Casuals goalkeeper, although he will have missed at least four games by the time he returns to Geraldton from his Perth training later this month. “On Friday we graduate but I’ve got to stay down another week to do a bit more training for regional deployment,” he said. “We don’t have specialist equipment tenders like they have in Perth. “We are the specialists, so we have to have confined space training and vertical rescue training as well.” He has been training with former Geraldton schoolteacher Martin Sellar and former crayfisherman Christopher Kane and 21 other new WA firefighters who will all graduate today after 20 weeks of intense practical and theoretical training. Due to COVID-19 the graduates had their frontline skills training brought forward for the first time in course history so they would be ready to assist firefighters during the pandemic if required.