Volunteer Week: Yallingup’s Paul Bright reflects on three decades of service in coastal town

When Paul Bright joined the Yallingup Coastal Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade, it’s base was little more than a shed.

Through his three decades of service, Mr Bright played a key role in growing brigade membership, leading emergency responses and driving fundraising for better facilities.

Serving as the fire control officer from 2001 until 2024, Mr Bright remains at the station helping to train and prepare the next generation of firefighters.

Looking back, Mr Bright said things had changed considerably since he first started in 1994, but the core need for volunteers has always remained the same.

“It (Yallingup) was a very small community in those days, there weren’t a lot of houses on the hill, and there weren’t a lot of us residents, and so, it just became a service to community that everyone joins this brigade,” he said.

Over the decades, Mr Bright said the station has received enormous support from the community.

One example of that support, he said, was the instillation of a 130,000 litre water tank when the community recognised the risk of losing water access during a fire.

“That is a very, very important asset for the town,” Mr Bright said.

“Support for that . . . was supplied by local government, Emergency Services Levy and the plumbing for it supplied by the community.”

Mr Bright said a highlight of his tenure at the station had been watching it grow and bringing the station up to what it is today as a group.

“I’m very proud of the of the group that we’ve got together in any volunteering organisation,” he said.

“It’s not that easy to have a lot of different personalities and our brigade is very close and likeminded — it’s a very cohesive, enjoyable environment.