WHITTLESEA, VIC. — Whittlesea Fire Brigade has marked a historic milestone, celebrating 100 years of service with a torchlight march through town on Saturday night.
Brigade members were joined by volunteers from 14 other CFA fire brigades to celebrate their centenary year, with local pipe bands and historic fire trucks making it a celebration for the whole community.
Captain Richard Gardner said a highlight was having a restored Austin Series 3 front-mounted pumper attend, which had previously served as Whittlesea’s pumper for about nine years.
“CFA is a community organisation, and our brigades don’t exist without community input and support, whether that’s people joining as members, donating to our brigade or supporting their loved ones to volunteer,” Richard said.
“We wanted this to be a shared celebration with the whole community, to thank them for helping us be successful for 100 years.”
The Whittlesea and District Bush Fire Brigade was first formed in December 1926, as a direct result of the 1926 Black Sunday fires. Eventually expanding to both the Whittlesea Rural Fire Brigade and Whittlesea Urban Fire Brigade, the two amalgamated in 1994 to create the brigade we know today.
While there have been many changes in the past 100 years, Richard said the brigade has adapted well.
“We have seen huge change in the wider development of the area and how the land is used, from timber production and full-time farming to more urban areas and smaller hobby farms,” Richard said.
“Like all brigades, we’ve also seen a significant change in the equipment we use, from the early days of buckets and beaters to the full array of equipment we have now.”
The brigade has been involved in many major bushfires across Victoria over the years, with the February 2009 fires one of the most significant.
“I look back proudly at how we tackled the challenges of such a major disaster. Not just in the response phase, but how we looked after each other and the community in the aftermath,” Richard said.
“We had a great captain at the time, Ken Williamson, who did a phenomenal job leading the brigade through arguably one of the toughest periods in its entire history.”
One of the biggest changes the brigade has seen was joining the previous Emergency Medical Response (EMR) program in 2008, and more recently the Fire Medical Response (FMR) program, responding to cardiac arrests and life-threatening calls alongside Ambulance Victoria.
Looking to the future, Richard said the brigade will continue to adapt to the changing community they support.
“Whittlesea and our surrounds have seen significant growth, and I’m looking forward to how the brigade continues to evolve to meet the needs of the community and bring on new technologies and new skills,” Richard said.
“We’re also now seeing the next generation of people come through, and I’m really excited to see them step up and be the next leaders of the fire brigade.”
