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Welcome to 2012

David Morris, our illustrious Chairman was awarded an Australia Day Achievement Medallion through the Ipswich City Council for his considerable efforts to the Rural Fire Service over many years, particularly for his efforts during the 2011 Floods.

Cr David Pahlke, Dave Morris and Mayor Paul Pisasale

The January Meeting Night Serves as Flood Citation Presentation Night

On January 19th, our Area Director Corey Bock visited the Brigade for the monthly meeting and to present the QLD Flood and Cyclone Citations to members who participated in assisting the community back in January/February 2011.

Adrian also celebrated his completion of FM1 and now being a qualified Rural Firefighter.

The first Flexi-Night of 2012 saw the Brigade welcome two new qualified Rural Firefighters with Stiggy and Dan recently completing their FM1 assessments.

We also had a friendly visit from Tyson Loetsch (Acting Izone Officer) and Simon Dawson (Acting ATSO).

End of Year Activities

For the Brigade's Christmas Function, we thought we'd try Bare Foot Bowling at Swifts. Unfortunately Mother Nature intervened with a storm and so we all had dinner instead. A good night had by all. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The last Thursday Night of the Year saw a good crowd at the station. The Rookies started their training and the remainder of the Brigade covered a brainstorming session on future driver training programs.

Five New Members in One Month - That's Got to be a Record

At November's meeting; the Brigade welcomed the following new members:

From Left: Jodie, Corey, Ashley, Luke and Alex.

Missing Fire?

On Tuesday 8th November; the Brigade was asked to support Urban crews near Collingwood Park with a fire in scrub land. Access was poor and crews spent several hours unsuccessfully trying to find a way into the fire but most trails were blocked by various obstacles. Crews attending into the evening probably didn't see the smoke so to prove it did exist here is a photo. By the way; the fire self extinguished over night.

 

Special Day at Bunnings Booval - October 2011

On Saturday 29th October; the Brigade participated in a community day put on by Bunnings at Booval.

As well as fund raising; some other strange things happened.

There was strange dancing in the streets...

...and dancing in tea cup rides. Regardless; a good day had by all.

 

Visit from Peter Varley, Regional Manager Rural Operations

On Tuesday 18th October, Peter Varley, our RMRO visited the Brigade and sat in on the meeting. Peter addressed members about potential changes coming our way with the new Ripley Urban station coming on line next year and also presented John Bowles with a training certificate.

The New Not Award Nominations

In a valuable lesson, Jason found out some of the perils of driving up train tracks the other night. The track can catch the rims of the truck tyres. Ouch; but we have our first nomination for the 2012 Not Awards. We also damaged two other truck tyres on the same night, but that's a story for another time.

Helping Out at the Bunnings Fund Raising Day

Each month, the Brigade undertakes fund raising at Bunnings Booval to supplement our operational costs and pay for our projects.

Here are some usual suspects.

Here is the team from March 2011.

From left (Dave, Tracey, Amy, Steve, Tony, Chucka and George)

A Few Medals on Australia Day 2011

Jim Runham received his Australian Fire Service Medal and his story can be accessed by Clicking Here.

John Bowles was awarded an Australia Day Achievement Medallion for his considerable efforts to the Rural Fire Service over many years, particularly for his coordination of local 'Volunteer Community Educators'.

Congratulations John!

New Station Carpark

The final stages of the car park project came to fruitition recently at the station.

Well done to Steve P, Steve W, Dave M, Neil I, Brendan W, Brian E, John B, Gary C, Matt P and Alex G. Matt M focused on getting the technical side of the station extension humming at the same time.

Jacaranda Festival

The Brigade once again attended the jacaranda festival in Goodna this year in late October. Fun was had by all.

Dave Morris presented Third Clasp to National Medal

Yes, that's a recognition of 45 years of service to the community! Dave was presented his Clasp by Paul Adcock, Director of Operations with RFS at the recent Mt Forbes RFB 50th birthday celebrations. Well done Dave, and thank you very much from all of us. To see the story, please Click Here.

Brigade AGM 2010

The Brigade held it's AGM this year on Sunday 26th September, a time we celebrate the past 12 months. For the full story of the day and the awards presented to members, please Click Here.

A special Monthly Brigade meeting was held on the 17th August 2010 where mid-term elections were held. The new office bearers are listed below.

Chairperson: Dave Morris

Secretary: Antie King

Treasurer: Amy Hartness

First Officer: George Ganzenmuller

Second Officer: Matt Mulroney

John handing over First Officer epaulettes to George (above left) whilst Dave in his first role as Chairman congratulates Jason on recent training accomplishments (above right).

Jim was awarded the official stunned mullet photo as part of his VCE training.

At The Movies

Members of the Brigade helped out at another Crew Leaders Training Video shoot recently. These scenes were required to show activities involving a real burn. A location near Boonah was chosen.

A pleasant day in the country was had by all, autographs will be available by request;)

A Kind Gesture from Greenbank RFB

At a recent Brigade Meeting, Fabian and a crew came up from Greenbank RFB for a quick visit. They presented a GPS Navigator gift to John as a thank you for some help with one of their recent hazard reduction burn. Squirt and Matty P has done a great job by all reports. It's good to have great neighbours.

 

The RFS Summit 2010

The Rural Fire Service bi-annual summit was held at Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th April. John and George were lucky enough to attend the event which only accommodates a limited number of delegates. The event showcases the latest initiatives of the RFS and the idea is that representatives from around the state are invited to act as ambassadors for their region. the event was a collaborative effort between the RFS and the RFBAQ. Normally only one member from a given Brigade is invited but George was lucky to get in due to the Brigade's involvement with the new GPS Computer Mapping Toolkit launched at the Summit.

AC Steve Rothwell opens the Summit with 206 volunteers present representing nearly 190 Brigades from around the state. A more diverse group of people sharing the same passion and goals you will never meet.

The group was split into three streams in a very professionally run event which provided numerous examples of innovation and positive change for our organisation. The great facilities also added to the event in promoting a great avenue for networking, building new friendships and reinforcing old ones. There was also the odd funny story told, especially at beer o'clock. Information obtained from the Summit will be communicated over the coming months; keep an eye on this website.

Station Changes

There are changes a foot at the station. Steve P is in his element with a new toy. Tony S and Matt P are have a jarring great time on a compactor and Bowlsie looks at home on the supervisors chair. Dave and Daniel have been busy fixing up the back yard. We'll have a new bigger carpark very soon in preparation for the new training room.

Movie Making at the Station

A part of the new QFRS Crew Leader Course training movie was filmed at the station in March. No Academy Awards are expected.

Thank You To Jim Runham

The Brigade formally thanked Jim Runham during the March Meeting for his many years of exceptional service as Chairman of the Brigade. Jim took a step back at the last AGM to concentrate on formally establishing the Pathfinder Group and also catch up on some long lost fishing fun.

Many Members have put in enormous time over the past few months training for the SE regional Fire Fighting Championships. To have a look at their big day, please Click Here. Well done guys, you made us all proud. A special thanks to Amy for her coordination efforts.

The March marathon meeting set a record or two. The highlight was the awards given out to of several members for their achievements.

Steve Phillips was awarded his national Medal with clasp for 25 years service to the community having served in the Army, SES and Rural Fire Service.

 

To check out some of the media coverage the Brigade has received over recent times, Please Click Here.