IN ORDER for Wooroloo BlazeAid to finish the job it started - repairing property fences in the region devastated by the February 2021 fires - the organisation will need 20 volunteers helping each day.
BlazeAid Wooroloo camp co-ordinator Jo Delaney said volunteers from all walks of life had spent one day to four months helping the region's property owners impacted by the fires get back on their feet after a terrifying ordeal, however, with their base camp due to close on June 30, the organisation was struggling to get enough volunteers to help wrap up the project.
"You don't need fencing experience, we will put you with someone experienced and teach you," Ms Delaney said.
"If you can walk a kilometre down the fence line, if you can carry just one star picket or use a pair of pliers - you can help and, if you can't do that, you can spread the word."
So far Ms Delaney said volunteers had included the likes of retired or working farmers, retired or working fencers, engineers, nurses, office workers and travellers among others.
At the time of writing, Wooroloo BlazeAid had 313 volunteers clear 76 kilometres of damaged fence and install 77km of new fence since the project first started on February 15.
Wooroloo BlazeAid set up a base camp close to the affected area which includes facilities for campers due to the majority of volunteers needing to travel and camp at the location.
"Most often we set up at a showground or similar as these usually have the facilities we need," Ms Delaney said.
"If the base camp is set up in a town, volunteers will still need to travel and sometimes stay as many local people are affected by the recent disaster, so traditionally our volunteers are mobile."
However in the case of BlazeAid Wooroloo, Ms Delaney said volunteers had also come from nearby Perth and surrounding areas.
"We have equal numbers of travelling volunteers and volunteers who drive in each day," Ms Delaney said.
One of the volunteers is Donna Cornect, who has a small hobby farm in Clackline and works in the oil and gas industry in Perth.
After hearing of BlazeAid's work in helping those affected by the New South Wales fires last year, Ms Cornect looked up the organisation on Facebook to see how she could help.
"Initially I wanted to volunteer over east but COVID put a stop to that, so when we had the fires here and I saw they were going to start a camp I took the opportunity to volunteer," Ms Cornect said.
"Usually I head there on the weekend so I commute on those occasions, go to the 'toolbox talk' and then head out to the field, but I've also done a week stint where I took my swag and camped in the field with everybody else and it was a lot of fun.
"When you stay at the base camp you get three cooked meals a day, they have hot showers, laundry facilities and there are powered sites for the caravanners.
"You get to join in for dinner, listen to the banter going around and the daily report - so it really gives a whole other element to the experience."
Ms Cornect said the best part of volunteering was getting to know the other volunteers and also the property owners, who were grateful for their assistance.
"The volunteers amaze me because most of them are in an older age bracket, so the fact that they are able to go out there and do some quite hard, physically demanding work blows me away," Ms Cornect said.
"Some people have been out there six weeks straight and for people that are in their sixties and seventies - that's pretty amazing.
"It's nice too to have that interaction with the property owners - just to be able to take some of the burden off them and show them that people are there for them and care."
Ms Delaney and her partner Jules Raes, who is in charge of donations for the project, first became involved with BlazeAid in 2015 after the devastating Esperance fires which destroyed about 310,000 hectares of land and took the lives of four people.
"We had read a sign on a volunteer's motorhome and after researching BlazeAid we joined the camp at Grass Patch," Ms Delaney said.
Initially the couple had planned to stay for a week but ended up volunteering for the organisation for two months.
"At first the property owners may be a little sceptical and think we are not professional fencers and a little older than they expected, but when we are finished they can see how much we care and how well we work," Ms Delaney said.
"I see volunteers go out each day all clean and fresh but they come back at the end of the day with dirty faces and a big smile - I will never tire of that image."
- If you would like to volunteer or donate to Wooloroo BlazeAid visit: blazeaid.com.au click on the donate button and write "Wooroloo" in the comments section.