From the murky depths to award night success

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Wirrate brigade award recipients with the new Ford Ranger ultralight

Wirrate Fire Brigade members have come together to celebrate 505 years of combined service.

Nestled in the southern end of District 22 sits the little tin shed brigade of Wirrate. In October 2022, when our state was ravaged by floods, Wirrate brigade was hit hard.

During the flooding brigade members answered the call to help, assisting the community in any way they could. Little did they know they would lose everything, as their fire station became the lost city of Atlantis.

However, the station was not the primary concern but the treasured contents - the 1991 Hino FT 2.4D faithful old tanker, all the operational equipment, and a new Land Cruiser ultralight that the brigade had only just taken delivery of. The brigade also lost all the death notices of members and photos of the brigade.

"When they heard what had happened, the brigade members were devastated," Wirrate Fire Brigade 3rd Lieutenant Jedd Dawe said.

"Fortunately, we had an inventory of everything we owned, which made the rebuild a lot easier than it would otherwise have been."

As the clean-up and rebuild began, the district office, district mechanical officer and CFA Fleet team tracked down another Hino 2.4D that was due to be decommissioned, and this was handed to the brigade to ensure they were operational as soon as possible.

When Wesburn-Millgrove Fire Brigade members heard about Wirrate brigade's losses, they graciously loaned Wirrate their Land Cruiser slip-on that was also due for decommissioning. They did this without knowing when they would get it back.

In 2023, Wirrate members heard they were going to trial a prototype ultralight tanker based on a Ford Ranger cab chassis, using the tray from the brigade's flooded ultralight.

"Brigade members gave feedback to the CFA Fleet team about the Ford Ranger, and it is now the new standard ultralight platform. Our members were proud to be involved," Jedd said.

"After two years of rebuilding, we have pushed through the struggles of losing everything and finally come out in a better place then we have ever been in.

"None of this would have been possible without the support of District 22 headquarters staff, Danny Jones, Steven Hill, BASO Paul Verbeek, Commander Peter Dedman, ACFO Tony Owen, the members and BMT of Wesburn-Millgrove and the Wirrate community."

On 7 March the brigade held an awards night to recognise the hard work of its volunteers and to thank all who had helped in the recovery after the flood.

The following brigade members were presented with awards:

3rd Lieutenant Jedd Dawe, 5 years

2nd Lieutenant David Edwards, 10 Years and National Emergency Medal

Captain Hamish Fletcher, 10 years

Rick Hoskin, 10 years

Secretary/Treasurer Jon McKeown, 10 years

David Richardson, 10 years

John Hurley, 15 years

First Lieutenant Ian Dawe, 20 years

Craig Newnham, 20 years

Jonathan Billich, 25 years

Bob Doherty, 30 years