01 January, 2011

Good Neighbours in Wingello

Eric dressed for a Summer swim

Small villages and towns are famous for the interest residents have in each other.  This is often viewed as scary by those used to the anonymity of big city life.
People who have grown up in a small village are used to knowing many or all of their fellow villagers.  When they make a move to the larger city there is the culture shock of being surrounded by millions of people yet knowing hardly anyone on a more than cursory level.
In Wingello we have a good blend whereby you can live your own lifestyle without interference from others yet neighbours are there if you need them.
We had an example of this a few days ago.
A house was vacant during the holidays with the owners away.  The neighbour heard a CRACK and went to investigate.  The power cable joining the house was sparking and shorting on a semi regular basis.
The neighbour knew who was caring for the house while the owner was away and gave her a call.
When she arrived he quickly rushed out and stopped her entering the property. She hadn’t noticed the power shorting and could well have been injured by the electrical fault.
The first thing one must do in this case is dial 000 (Triple Zero).  Don’t try calling Integral or the Fire Brigade directly.  The emergency services will contact the appropriate authorities and the necessary response happens quickly.
In this case the 000 Centre contacted the Wingello RFB whose members’ pagers went off. They responded quickly and assessing the situation contacted FCC (Fire Control Centre) in Mittagong who called Integral Energy who came out to correct the problem.
The electrical fault was able to be rectified and the house was saved.
The neighbour’s actions not only potentially saved the lady managing the house from danger, the house was also saved from destruction.

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