Hamilton fire brigade reflects on 150 years of service

The brigade is celebrating 150 years since its establishment back in 1870 when firefighters didn't even have access to reliable water, pumps or hoses.

Instead the brigade was designated a hook and ladder.

Captain Malcolm Anderson said it meant that if a fire was too big to deal with using buckets of water, the brigade had to stop the fire spreading by physically tearing down neighbouring buildings, which he said proved "an unpopular method".

Years of campaigning saw water mains piped into the CBD which provided greater access to water but still relied on the members manually getting the fire hoses from the station to the fire, bare the mains pipe by digging a hole and drill a hole into the then wooded pipes into which they pushed a standpipe to get the water out and into the hoses.

"Gradually the brigade was able to improve equipment and received a motorised pumper in the 1920s which laid the foundations for the modern fire-fighting equipment available today," Captain Anderson said.

Hamilton Fire Brigade reached the significant 150-year milestone during 2020 but the COVID19 pandemic forced the postponement of planned celebrations until this year when the expectation was that life would have returned to normal.

But brigade secretary Celeste Benoit said as Victoria faced ongoing lockdowns and restrictions, it was not possible to safely conduct the activities that had been planned and the tough decision was made to cancel the 150-year celebrations.

"It's a shame as we're very proud of our history and the work of our volunteers over 150 years to make us the successful brigade we are today," she said.

Hamilton's current fire station in Cox Street is the brigade's third.

The first station in Gray Street near the post office was relocated to the other end of Gray Street next to the Argyle Arms Hotel in 1901, where it remained until the current station was opened in 1994.

Stations and equipment weren't the only things to evolve over the brigade's 150 years.

The brigade's responsibilities include responding to grass and scrub fires, structure fires, technical rope rescue across and Hazmat support.

Members also support other emergency services such as VICSES and Victoria Police at road crash rescues, storm and flood events, and supports Ambulance Victoria at accidents with patient lifts and access to patients.

The brigade also supports other agencies and brigades with planned burning, and deploys to fires across the State and interstate as part of CFA strike teams.

Lieutenant Nigel Rabbitts said operational response was a major role of the Hamilton brigade.

"So members must have the appropriate skills to undertake the range of incidents they may be called to," he said.

"The brigade places a lot of emphasis on training, maintaining skills and working as a team both internally, with other brigades and within a multi-agency situation."

Close to half of the brigade's 70 members are active firefighters responding to incidents, with members coming from a wide range of backgrounds with varying levels of experience.

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