Tasman Peninsula fire quiz night
Tasman Peninsula fire quiz night
Our Challenge: The year 2020 and COVID-19 dominates the news, a new fire season approaches, the bush has grown back since the Dunalley fires seven years ago, and the community is becoming complacent. We want and need residents to have a plan for their safety and remove hazards, so we need to engage them!
In 2020 there were restricted opportunities for people to get together and major community events had been cancelled. We saw a quiz night as a tool for groups of friends to come together, so we went for it. Our action was to plan for a quiz night with all the questions related to fire.
The night was not a fundraiser and a minimal charge covered the venue hire and food. All the prizes were relevant to the topic, being fire extinguishers, fire blankets, protective equipment and smoke alarms.
The local Rotary Club was the host who hired the hall, did the catering, covered the insurance and event liquor licence, and collected the money. The Rural Youth group did the quiz runner roles, collecting answer sheets and serving food, and the local school music students provided entertainment in the supper break.
The COVID-19 rules meant movement had to be restricted, and bringing food to the table and having entertainment reduced people’s desire to mingle extensively. Tables were spaced according to the rules in a large hall.
Koonya Volunteer Fire Brigade members were the quiz masters and ran the logistics for the questions and answers. An adjudicator aided in the variations and interpretations of responses, and the answers to quiz questions were explained to increase people’s learning about fire.
The quiz night was advertised via local shops, newsletters and Facebook and brigade members spread the word through their workplaces and networks. Participants flooded in and we had to put a limit on the event to 100 people.
Much effort went into question design, so each had a learning point. There was variation between common knowledge, trivial facts, surprise and discussion. The last group of questions was a survey of opinions to guide our future fire safety community engagement activities.
Planning has begun for the 2021 quiz night. Commendations to the Tasman Peninsula Rotary Club, Rural Youth, Tasman District School and the Koonya Volunteer Fire Brigade for a successful community engagement activity.
Koonya Volunteer Fire Brigade
Community Engagement Working Group