Earlier this month, local firefighters and community members gathered to celebrate the official opening of the Beveridge Fire Brigade and its new facilities.
Located at the site of the former Kalkallo Fire Brigade satellite station whose tin shed will remain as a truck bay, the new additions include a range of accommodating installations, including a dedicated turnout room, brigade meeting and training room, office, kitchenette, toilet, shower, drying room, and a breathing apparatus cleaning room.
The Beveridge Fire Brigade officially became a standalone brigade on August 21, 2024, with 20 members from the Kalkallo Fire Brigade making the transition to the new brigade. An additional five are currently undertaking their General Firefighting training.
Set to service Beveridge’s 4000 plus and growing population, with which comes an escalating fire and community safety risk as previous farming land is rezoned for housing estates, the $840,000 brigade upgrade was generously funded through the Country Fire Authority (CFA) Capital Works Program.
For Beveridge Fire Brigade Captain Jason Smith, the new brigade is not only an exciting expansion of the CFA that brings the community together, but also marks his debut as captain.
“Most of our members have been to a lot of stations, obviously most from Kalkallo, but with the growth outwards, people come from Mernda, Whittlesea, South Morang, Doreen—so a good mix of people.
“[The Beveridge Fire Brigade] is my first time as captain, but I was a lieutenant down at Kalkallo and also at Mernda,” he said.
“It gives us somewhere to build a foundation for the brigade, so we’ve got our turnout room there at the moment, [and] we’ve got about 20 hooks and they’re all nice and full now.”
While the brigade currently only has one heavy tanker, Mr Smith said there were plans to employ more firefighting equipment as demand grows.
“At the moment we can only really fit the one truck in there and a car that we can borrow from the group,” he said. But there’s plans to obviously grow the station as the risk increases,” he said.
“Our [truck] is … 20 years old. It’s called a 34D, so it’s got 3000 litres of water and it’s four-wheel drive.
“It was the truck that was at Kalkallo from 2003, back when Kalkallo was just grass paddocks. As the growth has increased, they’ve got a pumper and things like that now. So hopefully the same happens up here—as the growth increases, we’ll have newer and more specific appliances.”
The brigade is always seeking more volunteers, and with their shiny new station now standing proudly, Mr Smith hoped it would encourage interested residents to reach out.
“It’s kind of why we built the station, to attract new members to the brigade,” he said.
“We’re doing about a job every day at the moment. A lot of jobs happen during business hours, so we have a core group of people that are available during that time, but we always need more.”
To learn more about volunteering with the CFA or to get involved, visit www.cfa.vic.gov.au/volunteers-careers/volunteer-with-cfa/apply-to-volunteer.