Narre Warren Fire Brigade

Narre Warren Fire Brigade
Established 1944
Location
  • South East Metro Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Region served
 District: 8
Services Combatant Authority for Fire
Volunteers
 100+
Website www.nwfb.org.au

The Narre Warren Fire Brigade is a fully volunteer brigade of the Victoria Country Fire Authority (CFA), located in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Narre Warren. The primary brigade area consists of 193,700 square metres of office, commercial and retail floor space, representing in 2001 12,300 houses and a population of 34,300. The brigade has over 8,800 cars registered in its area.

The increase of population over the last few years within the area has brought about an increase in the number of calls that the brigade has received, from approximately 100 calls in 1993 to 500 calls in 2004-2005 and 700 calls in 2008-09.

History of the Brigade

On February 10, 1944, a public meeting was called for the purpose of forming a fire brigade for Narre Warren. It was resolved that a volunteer brigade would be formed and the Narre Warren Bush Fire Brigade was born. Officers and a committee were elected and it was decided that all members would pay six pence a year to cover insurance costs.

The brigade was first registered with the Country Fire Brigades Board on March 4, 1944. By October 1944, the equipment list consisted of ten knapsacks, ten basil beaters, six plain beaters, two axes, two slashers and two rakes which were kept in a small shed.

On April 2, 1945 the Narre Warren Rural Fire Brigade was registered with the Country Fire Authority.

By mid 1948 a trailer and pump had been issued to the brigade and the first Narre Warren Fire Station was completed using donated materials and volunteer labour.

In 1967 a levy was imposed on land owners and $3000 was raised to buy an Austin chassis and cab, which was later fitted by the CFA. On August 15, 1967 the truck was picked from the Ballarat workshops. This truck was unfortunately burnt out in the Ferntree Gully Fires and was rebuilt and served the public until January 1983.

On July 31, 1968 the Hallam Valley Rural Fire Brigade amalgamated with the Narre Warren Rural Fire Brigade.

In January 1983 the brigade was issued with an International, 600 gallon fire truck as a replacement for the Austin. Only three weeks later the truck and seven crew perished in what turned out to be the darkest day in the brigade's history, February 16, 1983, the Ash Wednesday Fires.

In September 1984 the brigade's first female Officer was elected. That year the brigade also purchased an Isuzu crew cab.

In January 1985 brigade members moved into a new fire station in Fullard Road. After over 20 years at Fullard Road, Narre Warren have relocated to their 3rd, Purpose built, 3 bay fire station at 292 Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road, Narre Warren South.

In February 1987 a Hino Tanker replaced the International issued in 1983.

1993 saw the conversion of the Isuzu Tanker into a Lighting Unit, carrying four generators and capable of generating 18,000 kW of power. August saw the arrival of the International, 650 Pumper.

1995 saw the brigade receive a Ford trader type two pumper, carrying 1000 litres of water and 100 litres of "B" class foam.

1998 saw the arrival of a new Hino 6 speed Tanker, 2,500 litres of water and with 100 litres of class "A" foam.

1999 saw the arrival of a new Pumper, an Isuzu FRR550 type three light pumper, capable of pumping 3,700 LPM carrying 1200 litres of water, 100 litres of "A" class foam and 200 litres of "B" class foam.

In April 2001, land was purchased by the CFA on Narre Warren Cranbourne Road for the purpose of building the new Narre Warren Fire Station.

In May 2001 the brigade purchased and commissioned a replacement lighting/catering unit.

October 2004 saw the arrival of a new pumper, a type 3 medium Isuzu FTR900 crew cab.

November 2004 saw the arrival of a new 3000 litre tanker, a Hino Ranger PRO 8Z 3.4D (4X4).

In 2006 the brigade replaced its support van with a Ford Courier utility that is used as a troop carrier and support for the catering unit.

The brigade has now replaced the Ford Courier Ute with a Ford Territory XT 2WD

In 2010 the bridge replaced the Ford Territory with a Nissan Patrol forward command vehicle.

In 2011 the brigade moved to its new purpose built three bay station at 292 Narre Warren-Cranbourne Rd, Narre Warren.

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday 16 February 1983 started off as a far from normal day. At 7am the temperature had already reached 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), there was a strong northerly wind blowing and it had been declared a day of Total Fire Ban. There had been a drought in the year just past and the country was as dry as could be. Later in the day, the humidity would reach an all-time low, around the 10% mark.

Over 200 fires were reported on this day all over the state, with emergency crews stretched to the limit. By 3:00 pm the temperature had reached 43 °C (109 °F) and the humidity was at 8% with a northerly wind reaching 105 km/h (57 kn; 65 mph). All hell was about to break loose. A fire was reported in South Belgrave and was approaching townships at great speed. Tankers from Narre Warren, Berwick, Cockatoo and Belgrave were dispatched to the South Belgrave area. By this time there were large fires burning in Cockatoo and Beaconsfield, and a wind change was predicted for midnight so everyone had to dig deep to prepare for the change.

At 8:55pm that evening, 3 hours earlier than expected, the unimaginable occurred. The change came through.

A Mayday call was received from Narre Warren tanker that they and another tanker from Panton Hill were in trouble and trapped. They were situated on St Georges Road, Upper Beaconsfield, on the top of a hill. When the change came through the fire travelled from High St, up the hill to St Georges Rd, a distance of half a kilometre, in 11 Seconds. With such speed and ferocity, they never stood a chance. The radio went dead, fire-fighters were fighting for their own lives, trying to take cover by getting under their trucks for protection. Usually a wind change will last 15 minutes and then the rain comes, this one lasted two hours and there was no rain.

Forty-seven people, firefighters and civilians, were to die on this day at fires all over the state. Forty-six of these people died when the wind changed. The fire was later recorded by experts to have produced 120,000 kW of energy for every one metre of the fire line. A firefighter can stand up to 4,000 kW of energy.

At dawn the next morning two burnt out fire trucks and twelve fire fighters were discovered by Narre Warren First Lieutenant, Frank Clarke at St Georges Rd, Upper Beaconsfield. One of those on the truck was his Captain, and 5 other members from Narre Warren. May they never be forgotten and may they rest in peace.

Recently, with the help of the City of Casey, a memorial to the Firefighters that lost their lives on Ash Wednesday was established within the Narre Warren area. It is located on the corner of Princes Hwy and Magid Drive, Narre Warren. Further along Magid Drive, from where the memorial is located, is a row of trees that was planted soon after the Ash Wednesday fires. Seven of these trees are dedicated to the Narre Warren Firefighters that lost their lives.

References

See also

Coordinates: 38°1′53″S 145°18′17″E / 38.03139°S 145.30472°E