Our History

This is a history of the Waterfall Volunteer Bush fire Brigade and the information contained herein has been taken from the Brigade and Sutherland Shire Council records as well as verbal recollections of past and current members.

The Brigade was formed on the 23 October 1945 by a group of concerned residents who wanted to help protect their homes from the threat of bush fires. The first Captain of the Brigade was Mr J Commans and the secretary was Mr M Wright. Originally if the weather was fine the meetings were held on a log outside Mrs Aneill's residence which was located close by the current site, otherwise within her home.

In April 1949 the Sutherland Shire Council issued the Brigade with a Quirk pumping unit. This was the first pump the Council purchased. The Brigade was also issued with a hand operated siren to summons members to fire calls.

In October 1949 a plan was drawn up for the original fire hall. The proposed building was about 20ft by 30ft and was to be built on the current station site. About the same time (Oct '49) a quarter acre block of land was granted from the then National Park trust. Sutherland Shire Council contributed seventeen pounds towards the materials for the construction of the building built by the members along with other materials acquired from other sources. This building was completed in 1961. An addition was made to the hall in 1962 to house a truck.

In 1953 the building was connected to mains electricity and the brigade was issued with an electric siren to replace the second hand operated unit.

In August 1958 Council reimbursed the brigade the sum of thirty four pounds fifteen shillings and sixpence for the cost of converting an Army Blitz to a fire fighting unit.

The emblem of the brigade, being a Ring tail Possum was adopted in 1959. Emblems for the Shire brigades were based on predominant flora and fauna in their local area.

In April 1965 the station was connected to town water at a cost of forty five pounds!

A ladies auxiliary was formed in November 1968, however prior to this the ladies had a social committee which came into being in 1953. The Ladies Auxiliary was amalgamated when the ladies joined with the Brigade as support members in the early 80's.

In 1968 Lobers car company of Miranda came to the Brigade's aid by donating a second hand Landrover.

The Brigades battle for a better fitted out tanker was achieved in 1969 with the delivery of a new Bedford tanker.

In 1970 the Brigade asked Council for approval to make further extension to the station to house the Landrover, however the Brigade ended up organising and paying for the station extension itself.

In may 1971 the Brigade approved its first lifetime membership to a Mr W Hugget. The Brigade now has twenty three Life Members. Over the years the Brigade's membership has basically been from the township and family and friends of members from outside the area. Sadly, the majority of the current membership comes from outside the town.

Over the years the hall was also used for church services, Sunday school lessons, play groups and by the Public School P + C and the Fire Brigade Ladies Auxiliary to raise funds making lamingtons. Annual Fire Awareness competitions were held in conjunction with the School. For many years the brigade held an annual Games Night which was greatly supported by the local community.

Due to white ant infestation the original building was declared unsafe. Council was asked to provide funding for a new station and initial suggested plans were drawn up by Brigade members to ensure the new building retained a meeting area as well as an area for housing fire fighting equipment.

The old hall (pictured to the left) was demolished in 1991. To commemorate this occasion a wake was held on the 16 March 1991 and many old memories were relived that night. The current building was opened on the 25 May 1991.

In November 1980 five volunteers from Headquarters Brigade lost their lives fighting a fire along the Uloola Track at Waterfall. A memorial was built by a local resident on behalf of the Brigade and placed in the area beside the track. Each year, around the anniversary of their death the members of the brigade visit the site to reflect and remember these brave young men who gave their lives protecting our locality.

After this tragedy and another that followed in the Shire some three years later the volunteer fire fighting movement under went major change. No longer was it a case of rolling up at the time of a fire to the local station and paying a membership fee then hopping on the truck and helping out in the field.

Members are now required to attain certain levels of training before they are allowed to attend fires. Training includes basic fire fighting, village fire fighting, crew leaders and breathing apparatus, heaving vehicle driver training and specific training in the correct use of equipment such as chain saws. Brigades are now issued with improved types of fire fighting clothing and safety equipment.

During the eighties we also saw the introduction of pagers to summon members to calls.

During the 90's the organisation became known as the Rural Fire Service instead of the Volunteer Bush fire Brigade. We are now known as Waterfall Rural Fire Brigade.

Over recent years each Christmas Eve the Brigade has organised the visit of Santa on the fire truck with lollies for the children of the town. This has been appreciated by the Brigade with the welcome response from our local community.

Initially the Brigade was formed by volunteers to protect the town from fire. These days the volunteers in the Waterfall Rural Fire Service not only fight bush fires and protect local homes, they also attend motor vehicle accidents, search and rescues operations, flood relief and crowd control at large events.

For many years the volunteers of Waterfall Rural Fire Service realises the future of the Brigade relies on young men and women of this town. As a way of supporting the schools the Brigade donates books for the children each Anzac Day. This is in remembrance of the Diggers in hope that the spirit will be transformed to our local children who are the future of this Brigade in protecting our local community so that it can be preserved as the place we love to live for future generations.

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