BRIGADE NEWS
New station at Port Fairy Port Fairy brigade members are looking forward with excitement to moving into their new station in the next few months. More than half of the new Port Fairy Fire Station had been completed when the magazine went to press. It should be completed by October and be operational by the end of November. The original station, built to accommodate the brigade when it was formed in 1861, was sold in 1940 and replaced by the current station which no longer meets the needs of the brigade. The new station is being built at 116 Princess Highway, Port Fairy – an architect’s drawing is shown below. It will feature updated facilities including change rooms for women to cater for the increase in female volunteers, a kitchen, brigade office, multi-purpose room and three-bay motor room. Just under $2 million of the total cost to build the station was funded through CFA’s Base Capital Works Program, while the brigade contributed $72,700. The brigade also successfully applied for additional VESEP grant funding so that the station could have bifold doors instead of the standard roller doors at the front of the motor room. State Emergency Service (SES) contributed $150,000 for shared services and facilities because it will construct a separate SES building on the site following a Victorian Government funding announcement earlier this year.
“We’re also getting a nice new meeting room that will also be available for the community to use. As a brigade we can’t wait to get in and furnish it and make sure it’s an inviting place for members and the community,” he said.
“It’s a very nice building and will meet the requirements of the brigade for at least the next 20 to 30 years,” Hugh said.
Hugh was previously a CFA member at Port Campbell before moving to Port Fairy and joining the local brigade seven years ago. He said Port Fairy was a close-knit brigade of dedicated members who protect the small seaside community which swells to five times the population over summer.
With members needing to reverse the fire trucks across traffic to get into the current station, Hugh said the biggest improvement would be the three drive-through bays. He also welcomed change rooms for both women and men firefighters, who currently have to get changed into turnout gear in the motor room.
STORY LISELOTTE GEARY
Port Fairy captain Hugh Worrall said it was exciting to see the project coming to fruition.
66
“The camaraderie is great – we’re all volunteers of course and the local people really appreciate the work we do,” Hugh said. “We’re really lucky that our employers support us to respond to incidents.”
