Officer Rural Fire Brigade History Page

*** History is still being made! and additions required ***

Officer Rural Fire Brigade 50 + years old.

On 13th January 1939 there was "Black Friday", these fires destroyed over 210,000 square kilometres of bush and killed 71 people.
That day probably instigated the formation of the Officer fire brigade. They purchased a block of land in Station Street, OFFICER in 1941, for a fire station and paid just £50 (Vol. 7119 Folio 1423733). They had managed to raise £83 which they initially thought would go towards buying a fire tuck. However, they finally decided to spend the money on a station building. The funds were used to purchase building materials and the building (small weatherboard of 3 x 4.5m [10 x 14 ft] ) was erected, on 1st September 1949, by the volunteer labour of Mr. J. Lowther and Mr. A. McCoubrie.

There is much discrepancy about exactly when the Officer brigade was formed. Many believe it was around 1939-40, under the presidency of the late Cr. T. C. Whiteside. The Country Fire Authority (CFA) was not formed until about 1944, and in 1945 the CFA gave Officer a trailer unit. During the early years, brigade captains included Ron Tivendale, C. Reid, I. DeSoyres, W. Pidgeon and Keith Curran.

Many of the major conflagrations over the years arrived at the doorstep of Officer's response area.
One of the most memorable moments for many long-serving members with the Officer Fire Brigade is that of the 1968 fires which swept across the Officer Upper Beaconsfield area. Newspaper reports regarded the fires as the most fierce in the area's history but miraculously there was no loss of life, few livestock were killed and although the total damage ran into many thousands of dollars, it would have been considerably worse if not for the efforts of local volunteers. The "possible holocaust" began when a fire broke out in the vicinity of the Haunted Gully Reservoir at the back of Officer. Temperatures were well above what we now regard as the "40 degree range" (104° F) and there was a fairly strong northerly wind. The worst hit area during those fires was the scout camp on Dickie's Road. Along with several other buildings, the chalet, which was apparently valued at several thousand dollars, was totally wiped out.

Just over 12 months later, the Officer Brigade was presented with its first new fire truck. The Brigade, together with the local community, had worked hard towards the purchase of a truck and had raised almost $3,000 over a short period of time. As a result they presented a cheque for $2,700 to the CFA. The wonderful effort by the Officer people not only provided for the $2,700 which they had sent to the CFA but it also allowed them to purchase a two way radio for the truck. According to a report in the Gazette* on 18 April, 1969, that type of fire truck was fairly new. It had only been on issue for 1 1/2 - 2 years and from then on it was to become a generally used vehicle. The truck had two-wheel drive and was regarded as a "small town vehicle," which was equipped for pumping from still water or mains water. Equipment included the latest type of hose and many believed it to be an excellent all round vehicle.

Although they have attended a number of turnouts since the '68 fires, one of the largest and most devastating since was the 1983 Ash Wednesday disaster. Headlines at the time mentioned that 13 houses were gone and only six remained along the main section of Dickie Road (In the brigades local area). Those losses would have been much higher had it not been for the sheer courage and hard work of Peter and Neil Evans and Russell Cooper, along with other brigade members who risked their lives.

As the needs of the community grew, as new industries began and traffic increased (30,000 + vehicles daily) on the Princes Highway through the town, the brigade needed to diversify to remain in business to service the community. In about 1990 the brigade decided to specialise. The area chosen was - Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). Much research and development by the brigade and its members, primarily Lt. Garry Barnes, has gone into this specialist activity.

A vehicle was chosen that would support the specialist role of the brigade but at the same time provide a general quick response unit that could go places that the main tanker could not. The LPG unit contains the specialist equipment required when turned out to a leaking LPG cylinder. This equipment was largely developed within the brigade. An increasing use of LPG in vehicles sees the brigade turning out to car accidents involving vehicles powered by LPG, petrol stations - vehicles that have just been filled but have started to leak, homes - cylinders that have vented some gas due to over filling or increase in temperature, commercial and industrial locations that have problems with their cylinders.

While not the original building any more. Recently, starting approx. June 1998, planning began on refurbishing the fire station. This included removing everything behind the engine bay and replacing it with a new building.

The new building (approx. 4x the size of the old) incorporates an expanded meeting/training (theory) room with heating! An office, workshop, kitchenette and an operations room. This has been built completely by the members and local contactors where required.

On the 20th July, 2002 the brigade received their new LPG support vehicle. It was purchased partly with a government grant, community support and old vehicle trade-in. The brigade members designed and commissioned the layout and configuration of the unit.

In June, 2005 the brigade updated the gas support to a new Ford F250 V8 turbo unit that has a greater carrying capacity for the gear that it has on it. The previous unit was traded in. The tray was swapped between the units.

In October, 2005 Ex-Captain Ian Sterk was awarded the National medal with clasp for 25 years of meritorious service to the CFA. The members also awarded Ian with a life time membership of the brigade.

[More to come ............]

Today the Officer Fire Brigade is located on its original block of land, fully operational, in Station Street, Officer, Victoria.

*The Gazette - Independent local newspaper, established 1905.