Erica's township and its surrounding areas will now be ensured better protection with a crew of five internally qualified firefighters equipped to respond to structural fires after undergoing demanding training.
Erica and District Fire Brigade members Lizzie Johns and Jack Skinner recently completed one of CFA's most challenging courses, Respond to Urban Fire, allowing the pair to enter a burning building while issuing a swift and efficient attack on the fire.
They join the brigade's three existing qualified members of this specialised program.

Lizzie, 21, who had been with the brigade for two years, grew up surrounded by the CFA, and was quick to respond to the highly sought-after opportunity to obtain new skills concerning the safety of her threatened community.
"Living in a fire prone area, CFA have always been a big part of our town up here, so at any time I can help, I just want to get out there, and it's also a great way to meet new people around town that you wouldn't usually cross paths with," Lizzie said.
"Being such a small brigade, it's always been important to be on top of your skills and have that extra knowledge because it may just be you and one other person at a job.
"Although we are such a small community, we have a large response area and get a lot of tourism through, so we do get tasked with a wide range of different jobs. I think it's crucial to have that versatility in our skills and to bring expertise to the brigade that they haven't had before." Lizzie said.
Erica's small community is susceptible to many uncontrolled fires, Lizzie believes it is vital to advance the skills regarding the danger response for their community's safety.
As an electrician and instrumental technician, Lizzi's skills are transferable across both the CFA and the daily jobs she attends.
"I work in pneumatics, navigating pressure and flow of water treatments, so it does come in handy when out of a callout, like structural fires, but it was definitely useful when completing the course recently too.
"I know what hazards to look out for and how to deal with them, so that was a great asset to have throughout the training."
Lizzie found the course to be a physical challenge but did not allow herself to be held back by it, she instead savored the deeper level of knowledge she was obtaining to add onto her existing credentials.
"Being a woman and not as strong as others, I had to find different techniques at times, particularly during the door entries, but that was a good learning experience." Lizzie shares the many benefits of this course and the knowledge she has gathered from it.
"Search and rescue are at the heart of what CFA does, so to have those skills now is really rewarding.
"I also loved diving into the fire science and learning how fire responds in different environments inside structures and how it reacts to different chemicals." Lizzie spoke of the interesting knowledge she acquired from her experiences," she said.
Jack, a 26-year-old scaffolder, has been with the local brigade for more than four years and joined alongside his father after experiencing the tragedy of fire events in his youth.
"To be able to create a team to go out to a house fire now is really exciting for the brigade and broader community.
Jack said development of a more advanced fire response unit would create many more opportunities regarding the brigade and the restrictions it faces.
"The course itself was really interesting, and it was challenging to navigate your way through a smoke-filled room to get to the back of a building, but I got a lot out of it," Jack said.