All systems go at Wyndham Vale

The new brigade - formally a satellite station of Werribee and known as Manor Lakes Fire Brigade – formed part of the CFA network about 9.30am.

The decision to form the new CFA fire brigade is due to Wyndham City being one of the fastest growing municipalities in Australia. Wyndham Vale Fire Brigade will service an area of around 16,000 residents.

Captain Francis Ludeman said the beginning of the new fire brigade was an exciting time of change for CFA’s North West Metro Region.

“It’s really an exciting time for everyone involved as it forms part of history for this area,” he said.

The last brigade to open in the Wyndham area was Point Cook in 2001.

“Growth will definitely be one of our biggest challenges, however, we’ve got a great group of volunteers on board and a lot of leadership experience,” Francis said.

Moving across from Werribee Fire Brigade where he was a 1^st Lieutenant, Francis has been involved with CFA for more than 40 years – starting his time in CFA at Kyabram.

North West Metro Region Operations Manager John Deering congratulated Francis and his team for taking on the responsibility to lead a new brigade.

“The formation of this brigade has really been through the hard work of a number of people and is a really exciting milestone for District 14,” he said.

“I’d like to thank all of those involved, in particular the elected officers who have taken on leadership roles.”

John said a lot of behind-the-scene work was done to see Wyndham Vale Fire Brigade become operational.

He said this included the district creating data to determine Wyndham Vale’s response area and brigade support, done in consultation with CFA’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Operations department, the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) and Fire Services Communication Controllers (FSCC).

“Now we’ll just wait for the first call-out. Everyone is really keen to be involved, I reckon we’ll have people sleeping at the station just waiting for it,” Francis joked.