It was a nice Christmas present for Yarrawonga Fire Brigade when it took ownership of a brand new field command vehicle the week before Christmas.
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The fire brigade raised $20,000 towards the $80,000 vehicle, after receiving a Voluntary Emergency Services Grant in 2018 of $38,666 from the Victorian State Government.
The balance was met with $7,000 cheques each from ClubMulwala, Mulwala Water Ski Club and Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort.
The brigade’s CFA standard-built vehicle was in addition to a new light tanker which also arrived at the station before Christmas.
The field command vehicle is extremely well designed according to secretary/treasurer of Yarrawonga Fire Brigade, Brian Lawrence.
“It has more room, the ability to run fires from the back of it and gets into paddocks and up hills with ease for the overall picture,” he told the Yarrawonga Chronicle.
“It has the capacity to co-ordinate the operations of tankers putting water onto fires, it has a whiteboard for notations and plenty of storage for all the good gear you need.
“It’s certainly a far better purpose-built unit. There are a number of versions of it. This one is the latest, state-of-the-art vehicle and we’re lucky to get it.”
Yarrawonga Fire Brigade members expressed their appreciation to representatives of the three licensed Mulwala clubs for their combined donation of $21,000 towards the new field commander.
“We wouldn’t be able to have the field commander without their support or it would have taken more years of fundraising efforts,” First Deputy Group Officer Lyndon Hart said.
“The clubs were approached and came together as a collective group.”
ClubMulwala CEO Alan Rowe, Mulwala Water Ski Club CEO Peter Duncan and Operations Manager at Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort Peter Savy all commented in support of their clubs’ donations.
“It’s a priority for our club,” Mr Rowe remarked about ClubMulwala’s donation to help local fire brigades.
“There’s never been a more important time than now for a brigade to have the best possible firefighting vehicles or support vehicles,” the ski club’s Peter Duncan said.
And the golf club’s Peter Savy, who served 31 years with NSW Fire and Rescue Services, Mulwala Unit, said the fire service is an essential service for the community.
“Communities depend on us and fire brigades should have the most capable vehicles and equipment as possible,” he said.
A story on the new $160,000 light tanker appeared in the Chronicle on January 15.
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