The Golden Square Fire Brigade has marked the 110th anniversary of its station with a celebration and the unveiling of a new truck, but members hope it will not be too long before they can call a new station home.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The station on High Street opened on November 5, 1909 and is still in use, making it the oldest operational fire station in the city.
Past and present members and their families gathered at the station yesterday afternoon, among them Tony Carter, the great-grandson of William Carter, who was brigade captain in 1909.
The 138-year-old brigade moved into its current station after occupying a site on High Street closer to the city, and then a weatherboard building at the current site from 1887 to 1909.
But there are wishes for a new station. Third lieutenant Jamie Waugh and captain Bryan Greenwood said the facility was dated and the brigade was outgrowing it.
There was not enough room for all the trucks, they said, and not enough training space.
Today the brigade boasts 60 members and 25 operational firefighters, nearly 50 per cent of whom are women.
Mr Greenwood said the CFA were working towards a new station, but finding land was difficult.
However, the brigade does have a new truck, funded with $80,000 from the brigade and $130,000 from the state government.
Mr Waugh said it replaced a 30-year-old truck and provided for more equipment, better firefighter rehabilitation gear, and was equipped to deliver post-fire decontamination.
The new ability to provide post-fire decontamination was particularly important, he said, to protect the health of the brigade's firefighters.
"House fires can get pretty toxic," he said.
The old truck was sold and proceeds will go back into the brigade.
A brief history
- August 1878 - No. 1 Sandhurst Volunteer Fire Brigade introduces contingency brigade for Golden Square, with 10 members elected at meeting held at Caledonian Hotel
- April 1879 - Depot opens on High Street
- December 1880 - Golden Square contingency brigade severs connection with No. 1 Sandhurst Brigade
- January 1881 - First members of the Golden Square Volunteer and Salvage Corps are elected
- February 1882 - The brigade purchases the High Street depot
- July 1887 - New depot further down High Street opens
- May 1906 - The brigade writes to the Country Fire Brigades board asking for a new station
- November 1909 - The new station officially opens
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.