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The Ripley Valley Rural Fire Brigade was formed in February 1995 after the November 1994 bushfires which occurred in South East Queensland. The founding committee consisted of local landowners who had some previous experience in fighting bushfires in the Ripley Valley area. Our first high tech fire fighting appliances were a little different to those currently used.

 

Next came the Mitsubishi Canter in 1996 which served as the brigade's first Medium Appliance.

Then in 2000 we received a Nissan Patrol, our current light attack appliance. Formally Unit 6, it has now been designated Unit RV41.

In early 2006, the brigade commenced trialing a dual cab Nissan Navara (Unit 21) as a mobile command vehicle , personnel mover and optional slip-on vehicle. For a short time it was Unit RV91 but it is now known as Unit RV81.

In the latter part of 2006, the brigade received a replacement for the Canter (Unit RV51) as well as an additional Medium Appliance, designated Unit RV52. Both units are Izuzu 4x4 trucks with a 2000 litre water capacity.

 

Our first station was also not the most sophisticated.

  

Brigade Officer Jim Runham and his daughter Rebecca realise the dream of a station is now becoming a reality with the fixing of the objection notice on the fence at Lot 9 Ripley Rd Ripley, Thursday 27th September 2001

Brigade members gather to celebrate the new beginning for the Fire Station.

Chaplain Miles Stanley and members with Councilor Denise Hanly attend the Land Dedication Service on 3rd November 2001

Councilor Denise Hanly receives encouragement to continue digging when she turned the soil at the Land Dedication Service on 3rd November 2001

Unit 6 and Unit 7 line up with visitor "Big Red" a restored Classic Urban Unit owned by Brian Gillece. Station parking where the shed will be built.

 

 

The block is cut and the rain came down

The slab finally goes down

There's the frame

Now we have walls.

 

 

 The flag pole and some landscaping.

The staion finished to Stage One.

The Minister for Emergency Services in 2006, the Hon. Pat Purcell visited the station for the hand-over of the keys to the new Unit 51. The old shed has come a long way and the changes to come are as exciting as the future for Ripley Valley itself.

Stage Two - Building in the Operations and Kitchen Area.

The mezzanine floor framework going up with JB the dodgy Radio tech at work.

The new Ops room is now lined and the first coat of paint down.

The kitchen is also lined now, we won't know it soon!

The Official Opening occured at the 2008 AGM.

Steve Rothwell, Deputy Commissioner RFS officially opened the extentions with a thank you to Powerlink who made the work possible with their community grant.

Stage Three - A New meeting/training Room and Maintenance Area plus a carpark extension to fit it all in.

Over 300 cubic metres of fill was brought in, spread out and then compacted over many weeks to extend the carpark.

The pad for the new room was laid in September 2010.

Dave Morris was the project coordinator for the new room and spent many hours keeping an eye on the construction.

Adro put the frame up in only a few days.

Then over the next few months; the extension was lined and painted. Another team under Matt Mulroney's coordination installed all of the security and IT hardware to the room to make it a state of the art training and meeting room.

The new training and multi-use room seats around 40 people theatre style and enables the use of movies and other training presentations to assist members learn in a better environment than the open bays of the station as we used previously. The Brigade would like to thank Boral for donating the concrete and gyprock used in the construction of the room.

Meanwhile, over 200 cubic metres of chitters was then brought in to finish the carpark extension which was donated by Thiess Enterprises as the surface material and was graded to surveyed heights, then rolled to the desired finished levels.

 

With a new fence across the front of the station and carpark finished, Steve Phillips, coordinator of the carpark project could finally relax.

Outside the station we have a new Memorial Stone thanks to Daniel Feeney who created it by hand in his spare time.

The extension also included a new maintenance area at the back and a shipping container was brought in to store our flammable liquids as well as to generally free up space in the station proper completing the project.

How the station looks today.

The Brigade celebrated it's 15th birthday in December 2010 and celebrated a year full of changes at the station. Joanne Miller MP joined members, families and friends for the birthday celebration and naming of the two new rooms.

 

The new room has been named 'The Bora Room' in recognition of the original inhabitants of the area currently serviced by the Brigade.

Then as a surprise recognition to Dave Morris' outstanding service to the Brigade over many years, the new maintenance area was named 'Dave's Den'

Our Membership

 

Our members have changed over the years but a core of the originals still remain. The Brigade is like a family and remains special to all of those who have been part of the team.

An early photo of the Ripley Valley RFB Members.

Members at the Brigade's 10th birthday / AGM function.

The ever changing face of the Ripley Valley RFB Team.