WEAR Orange Wednesday (WOW) Day on May 19 is the annual, national ‘fun’ day to acknowledge and thank our State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers.

In Coffs, The Big Banana went orange while other cities around the country lit up their iconic buildings.

James Daniels, Unit Commander and volunteer, told News Of The Area the Coffs crews were out WOW-ing both Tuesday and Wednesday.

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“On Tuesday we got a lot of our crew out to the Big Banana; earlier in the day we went to Bishop Druitt College for a Youth Community Engagement event which was all about education for storms, floods and tsunami, which includes inland water rescue and vertical rescue.

“On Wednesday Coffs Bunnings rang up saying all their staff had ‘gone orange’ for the day and they were offering us the gift of a Community Booth.

“We took a rescue boat and parked it out the front and took our Storm Safe message to the community, advising people to clean their gutters, put away loose items and secure their kids’ trampoline”, to avoid weather-oriented dramas.

“Bunnings also kindly donated us an air compressor.”

James says most people don’t realise how vital the SES is in Coffs, and that it’s the busiest unit in the state.

“In Coffs the SES has a long-standing history as the primary response rescue service when people ring through to Triple Zero.

“The Coffs SES cluster has performed nearly 1,000 requests for assistance over the last 12 months.”

While the SES is government funded, it’s manned by volunteers, with over 100 members across Coffs Harbour.

“We offer the best value to taxpayers as a voluntary service,” said James.

People join the SES for various reasons, from distributing brochures, to flood rescue, to breaking down doors for the ambulance crew, to cutting people out of cars, and teaching the community.

“There’s the livestock and domestic animal rescues too.

“Coffs SES is one of the youngest and most diverse units in regional NSW.

For more information visit ses.nsw.gov.au.

By Andrea FERRARI