CFA’s Lucas Fire Station was officially opened yesterday (14 February) by the Minister for Police and Emergency Services Lisa Neville, before an audience of senior leaders and Brigade members.
CFA Chief Officer Steve Warrington, CFA Deputy Chair Michelle Mclean, Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison, Police and Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville and Lucas OIC Kade Dowie unveil the station's plaque.
As part of the celebrations, CFA has commissioned a time-lapse film with interviews from the experts who helped build the new fire station and footage that shows the two-year process.
Land & Building Services Program Manager Michael Lindstrom oversees new fire station developments as part of the Growth Programs’ 350 Firefighter Program (P350). Michael features in the film, explaining the steps involved in consultation and construction of these multi-million dollar facilities.
“Building a fire station is a highly-complex project, which requires stakeholder engagement with a range of internal and external groups, extensive planning and re-assessment of plans, and the engagement of a range of contractors to complete construction,” Michael said.
“We appoint a project manager to each of these projects and they become the key contact for the Brigade, tradespeople, local council for town planning and a range of other suppliers to fit out the station.
“This video is a good overview of these sorts of infrastructure projects and can assist us in building awareness and understanding with future Brigades who are scheduled to be receiving new stations as part of P350 and outside of this Program.”
Lucas Fire Station OIC Kade Dowie was also interviewed as part of the video, touting the new station as a welcomed asset for his Brigade and the wider community in Ballarat.
“We were operating out of a temporary facility down the road in Delacombe for about a year, and while we maintained strong incident response, we were restricted in space, storage and capacity to train on station,” Kade said.
“The new station offers plenty of space for the Brigade to conduct practice drills and other training requirements, while having modern facilities available for preparing for and recovering from incidents.”
The video, which you can view below, will be utilised during OIC Induction sessions with operational leaders leading their Brigades through new fire station constructions.
Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison, CFA Deputy Chair Michelle Mclean, CFA Chief Officer Steve Warrington, Operational Capability and Growth DCO Stephanie Rotarangi, West Region ACO Peter O’Keefe and District 15 OM Brett Boatman were among dignitaries attending the official opening.