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Centennial celebrations for Hilldene Fire Brigade

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Emily Waite
Emily Waitehttps://ncreview.com.au/
Emily Waite has been the Editor of the North Central Review since late April, 2024. With a particular focus on delivering community driven stories, Emily has been responsible for implementing the new 'Words of wisdom' segment, and regularly reaches out to residents both young and old to share their stories with the paper. Emily graduated with high distinctions in a Bachelor of Music from JMC Academy in 2022, and graduated with a Graduate Diploma in Writing and Literature from Deakin University in 2023.

Hilldene Fire Brigade has celebrated 100 years of service to its local community.

The centennial milestone was honoured by an event held at Seymour RSL earlier this month, attended by Country Fire Authority (CFA) board member Dawn Hartog AFSM, former-captain and former-group Officer Seymour Group (now Mitchell Shire Group) John Clarke AFSM, and Lesley Read AFSM, as well as current and former Brigade members.

CFA service awards, national medals, and life memberships were given to recipients, including a 60-year service medal to former-captain Leslie Bassett and a 15-year service medal to Captain William Fenech.

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Mr Fenech said the event gave members a chance to connect with the Brigade and its history.

“The anniversary event has given members the chance to celebrate where the Brigade has come from,” he said.

“The whole Brigade got involved in trying to find information on the Brigade’s history.

“We’ve managed to find the notebooks where the first Brigade meeting was held over 100 years ago, the original notebook, ledgers, and registration forms from all the Brigade members up to the first 40 years.”

Formed in 1924, the Brigade was initially part of the Seymour Rural Fire Brigade, stationed at the back of the Seymour Fire Station.

Some 60 years later, the Brigade relocated to member-owned and donated land along Seymour-Pyalong Road, before moving to its current location in 2011.

Mr Fenech said the Brigade was formed to assist farmers in the local area and surrounds.

“At that particular time, the Brigade didn’t have much in the way of equipment. They had wet sacks and fire beaters and hand tools, and primarily relied on manpower and people from the local community coming to help out,” he said.

“A lot of the Brigade members were shared with Seymour [Fire Brigade] and the two Brigades had been seen as siblings of sorts.

“In the 1980s, the Brigade decided to move out of the Seymour township, and the first block of land they moved to was owned by Brigade members Margot and Kevin Green, who offered part of their land to the Brigade.

“The Brigade members themselves had built their first fire shed over a period of about four to six weeks.”

The Brigade responds to an average of 150 call outs per year, particularly to vehicle accidents on the Hume Highway.

Well-resourced thanks to the community’s generosity, the Brigade also boasts a heavy tanker and has recently secured a grant.

“We now have a heavy tanker that’s supplied by CFA and we have a newer, light tanker that’s been funded by some community fundraising,” Mr Fenech said.

“We’ve also secured a grant to get a big fill appliance, so we will have that as well and a community funded Field Command Vehicle.”

The Brigade has played a vital role in several bushfires, including the 2002 Glenaroua fires, the 2009 Black Saturday fires, and the 2019/2020 New South Wales fires.

“More or less, in every campaign fire since, the Brigade has sent either a truck or members to assist in major fires, including grassfires along Mickleham corridor in 2014,” Mr Fenech said.

“More than 10 Brigade members participated in the deployment to New South Wales during the 2019/2020 fires and when the fires came down to Victoria later that year.”

Mr Fenech said the Brigade was excited to display some of their findings of their origins, and looked forward to another 100 years of service.

“Now we want to … start displaying some of it,” he said.

“We need to print out all the photos and scan all the material we have and put it on display so we can cherish it and see it for the next 100 years.”

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