By Jed Lanyon
Hoddles Creek CFA is set to receive a new fire station to replace a 40 year old building as the fire brigade has outgrown their existing station.
Third lieutenant Brett Kerford said the announcement came as “happy news” to the volunteers at the brigade.
It will be a huge asset for the brigade,” he said. “The old girl has been fantastic for many many years but we were in need of an upgrade.
Mr Kerford said that while the existing brigade was not run down, it had certainly become tired.
As the brigade upgraded fire trucks over the years, the bigger vehicles became too big for the existing station.
Mr Kerford estimated there to be a gap of 25 millimetres between the garage door of the brigade and the top of one of the fire trucks, making for a tight squeeze to get the vehicle in and out.
“It’s a little bit of a jigsaw to get them in and out. You’ve got to park them in the right place every time and when you try to get in and out of the cabs you can knock the doors.”
Mr Kerford would also welcome a remote controlled door as part of the new station as brigade members are required to lift the door open and closed, which he admitted added time when responding to an emergency.
“Hopefully it’ll make mobility a bit easier when the pager and siren goes off instead of taking the time to open and close the doors… It could take a good minute or more off our response time.”
Mr Kerford said the brigade had also outgrown their meeting rooms, which could become a tight fit for the members at times.
“If you’ve got 20 people in there you’re pretty much sitting in someone’s lap. It can make things difficult in winter when it’s wet and cold and we need to do our training inside.
“We won’t have to change in and out of our fire fighting gear right next to the trucks, we’ll have our own change rooms which will be fantastic.
“We’re very appreciative of being on the list to get a new station. We thank all those involved and those who went in to bat for us in regards to achieving this wonderful thing of getting a new station.”
The brigade is putting the call out for new members to join the catering crew in preparing meals for the brigade members as they respond to emergencies in the community.
Mr Kerford said the catering teams were currently busy taking turns preparing all the meals for the emergency service teams who have been out searching for missing Warburton resident Susan Shaw.
“They’re doing a fantastic job up at Warburton, but if we had a few more members as part of that crew it’d be really handy.”
Mr Kerford invites residents all across the Yarra Ranges and surrounding areas to get involved in calling him on 0418 557 7800 to see how they can help.
The funding to replace Hoddles Creek’s fire station comes as part of the $126 million CFA capability funding from the Victorian Government’s Fire Services Reform.
