Logan City born and bred firefighter Kylie Bennett said after a lifetime in the area, she couldn’t see herself living or working anywhere else.
33 year old Kylie is a local firefighter at Beenleigh Fire Station.
Living locally means a short commute for Kylie, as well as being able to stay in the community she loves.
Kylie said it’s the locals and the easy access that has kept her in the area her whole life.
“Being in the Logan area we are so easily accessible to the Gold Coast and to Brisbane. We are smack bang in the middle,” she said.
“It’s the rural side of it as well. Still yes we’re developing quickly and that’s great as well but you’ve still got all of the space to play with. We’ve still got beautiful park lands, nature reserves, and hikes around.
“Job wise it’s an excellent place to work. We do have such a variety of jobs within this Logan corridor.”
Kylie said she also loves the close knit community of Logan City.
“I love my neighbours,” she said.
“My partner and I always say we’re not moving until our neighbours do.”
Kylie worked as a vet nurse for 12 years before making the switch.
She said she felt as though there was little room for growth in her career. She needed a change.
One of her good mates was a firefighter and he encouraged her to give it a crack.
Kylie started out as a volunteer. It then took her four years to get into her current urban fire fighting position.
She also did three years working for the fire department of a 000 call centre; answering phone calls, dispatching trucks, and telling fire fighters what to do.
“Now I have someone waking me up in the middle of the night and saying off you go,” she said.
“But I’m loving being a firey.
“Everyday is different and you just don’t know what’s going to happen.
“I’ve been pretty fortunate that I’ve had a variety of jobs already.
“I’ve been to a few structure fires, car accidents, ducks in drains, puppies in drains, and cats in drains.
“It’s been a bit harder due to covid. We haven’t been able to go out to the community as much as we would want to and be able to do the fire education.”
Kylie said she loves the fire education side of it for locals.
“I do a lot of it with the local girl scouts and guides,” she said.
“We also have open days at our station where the community can come down and ask any questions.
“It’s a really good way to build on those community relationships.”
Kylie said the four years it took her to land her dream job in Logan City were well worth it.
“I spent four hard years applying everywhere and doing all of the testing,”she said.
“It takes anytime between six to 12 months for an application process to get the interview and to get in and then you’ve got the four months of full on training as well.
“So you wanna enjoy it when you come out that’s for sure.”
