On Saturday the 14th of July 2012 members of the Drouin Fire brigade and their families celebrated their 75th anniversary with Operations Manager Mark Jones representing the C.F.A, Operations Officer Ian Pattie representing District 9, VFBV State Councilor Tim Desmond representing the VFBV, members from neighboring brigades, past members of Drouin Fire brigade, and members of the community.
MC 2nd Lieutenant Mark Fox invited Captain John Atkins to open the night who payed tribute to the brigade and its dedication to making their community a better place.
Operations Manager Mark Jones spoke to the gathering of strong history of the brigade in serving the community and achieving many milestones. He also spoke of the strong leadership led by only 4 Captains in its 75 year history with the support of many officers within the Brigades management team over that period. Current Captain John Atkins has served as Captain for 28 years of his 45 year service to the C.F.A. Operations Manager Jones stated he thought the brigade would remain viable and committed into the future.
1st Lieutenant Steve Forrest spoke of the history of the brigade including its formation on the 1st of July 1937 with a focus on the more recent history of the brigade and of the advancements it has seen in fire fighting, equipment and technology. Lt Forrest also spoke of the current membership of the brigade and how their actions will create the history of the brigade in the future and build on the successes of the past.
A slide show was presented to the gathering showcasing the brigades history and some of their successes and major fires throughout the ages.
Operations Manager Jones presented long service awards to the following brigade members:
5 Year Certificate: Judy Brown, Kylie Crawford, Jason Delphin, Brendan Mifsud, Jon Stott
10 Year Medal: Ian Jolley
15 Year Clasp: Steve Forrest, David Harlow
30 Year Clasp: Jeff Young
35 Year Clasp: Rod Atkinson
VFBV State Councilor Tim Desmond then presented Gold stars to the following four members for their service to the association and the former VUFBA:
Rod Atkinson, Ken Craig, Hec Hogan and Michael Lee.
Long serving Brigade support member Lorraine Fox was presented with a certificate of appreciation for her tireless work and involvement with the brigade, particularly in operating the FRS and ERS phone system for the brigade when it was in operation.
Everyone at the dinner took the opportunity to view some memorabilia from the brigade including trophies, photos, documents and news articles kept over the brigades 75 year history.
After all the formalities had ended and most people had gone home, the brigade was then called to a house fire in Drouin. On arrival Incident controller Lt Forrest gave an initial word-back of Structure Fire not yet under control. The single story weather board house was fully involved with fire already in the roof space and engulfing every room of the house. The single occupier of the house managed to escape and was attempting to extinguish the fire upon the brigades’ arrival.
The brigade quickly brought the fire under control stopping any spread after its arrival. The occupier was taken to hospital by ambulance as a precaution for a pre existing condition. The cause was believed to be non suspicious and caused by an unattended heat source in the kitchen. 15 members from Drouin utilising their Pumper, Tanker and Car were assisted by members from Warragul with their Pumper and Tanker and members from Traralgon utilising their B.A support van to refill the B.A. cylinders used.
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