Change at the forefront for long serving fireys
Having recently received 50 and 70-year service awards respectively, John Beavis and Ronald Cumming have been able to reflect on a vast array of changes since they first joined as firefighting volunteers many years ago.
Ronald, better known to all and sundry as Joe, said he had seen a lot of changes, both for better and for worse.
He said he initially joined for something to do over the football off-season.
“We were a mob of teenagers in town and we all played football together,” he said.
“Footy finished and we thought, what do we do now?
“I was always interested in the fire brigade so we joined, and then it was back to footy.”
Joe’s service at both brigade and competition level has been extensive, with the competition training track at Bunyip named in his honour.
“I remember my first demonstration was at Wonthaggi in 1947, and I slept in the back of the truck,” Joe said.
When Joe first started, the brigade’s base was just a tin shed behind the current post office. They only had a hose and a hydrant, and had to carry them to wherever they were going.
“In 1958 we got our first truck, but it had nothing else,” he said.
“There were no radios, you had to run around to the other truck to tell ‘em what was going on.”
Back in those days, brigade members would turn out in their street clothes, vastly different to the uniform and equipment used today.
“As long as you had a pair of shoes you were right,” John said. “The mandatory breathing apparatus has only recently come in in the past 10 years or so.
“You used to just go into a house fire and you’d come out coughing and spluttering.
“If it was a haystack fire you’d taste it for weeks, and the smell of smoke on your clothes,” Joe added.
“I got a bit crook once and was asked by a doctor if I smoked.
“I said I’d had more smoke from fires than from any cigarettes.”
Thankfully, technology now creates a safer environment for the fire fighters.
“The biggest bonus now is the aircraft,” John said.
“If it’s a bad day, they’ll be there all day, and they could even be there before the truck.
“We have infra-red cameras to find hot spots, which we never had, that’s a bonus.”
John said the brigade had faced many challenges, including Ash Wednesday fires and a number of accidents.
“We lost a brigade member a number of years ago, but you just try and move past it,” he said.
“Prior to 1983, we’d meet back at the station and talk about we could have done this better, or that better.
“After Ash Wednesday they created a peer support group, the church ministry is involved and you had dedicated brigade members. “We’re trained to look for the signs.” Keen to pass on their extensive knowledge, Joe and John aren’t quite done serving yet.
“That has been a big change,” John said of modern day training.
“In the early days it was, you come with me and I’ll show you.
“Today, you need minimum skills on the fire truck before they can turn out to a fire or an incident.”
“They get a certificate, we never got anything on paper,” Joe added.
While conceding that the days of seeing brigade members serve 50 years and beyond may be coming to an end, the pair hope to guide the juniors coming through in the hope that they may be the leaders of the future.
“Joe received his 70 years of service, and I got my 55 years of service last year,” John said.
“You won’t see people join last that long anymore, if they get to 10-15 years you’re doing well.
“There’s a lot more sports, in our day there was only cricket, footy and tennis, and people are travelling 200km a day now just for something to do.
“On the competition side, not that many years ago there were 126 teams competing at state level, now it’s down to about half that number.”
“The juniors are starting to come into it a bit more,” Joe added.
“Most brigades now have teams of 18 or 19 juniors, but it’s how many you keep. “In the country jobs don’t come easy.” Joe’s experience and knowledge of the local area was evident when he issued this stern warning.
“The Tonimbuk (bush) hasn’t burnt for a while, 2009 only got a small corner of it,” he said.
“If you get a bad day and the wind is right, look out.”