By Ray Peace
This year’s bushfire season is more or less over.
But work never stops for the volunteers of the Ferntree Gully CFA Urban Fire Brigade, which is approaching its centenary early next year.
Knox Historical Society president Ray Peace has been delving into the archives since 2023 to assemble a suitable history for the event.
“It’s been a marvellous experience,” he said.
“The brigade has documents going back almost one hundred years. It’s a little treasure trove for research.”
A bush fire brigade was formed in 1926 at what was then Lower Ferntree Gully (the name was changed in 1962) and Upper Ferntree Gully.
This was in the wake of the devastating bushfires that year.
In February and March 1926, fires swept large areas of the state including the Dandenong Ranges.
Sixty people were killed; hundreds of homes, sawmills, and public buildings were destroyed.
The Ferntree Gully Bush Fire Brigade was absorbed into the Urban Fire Brigade in 1942.
The brigade takes its founding date from this point, and marked its 80th anniversary in 2022.
Aside from the written records, Ray has been interviewing former and current members of the brigade on their recollections of past events.
“The spoken records add a whole new dimension to the story,” Ray said.
“Without those, we wouldn’t know half of what happened.”
Brigade members attend bushfire and other emergencies both throughout Victoria and sometimes interstate.
The brigade has been on the front line on dates seared into history and memory: Black Saturday on 9 February 2009, fire on One Tree Hill on 21 January 1997, and Ash Wednesday on 16 February 1983.
The CFA provides extensive training for its volunteer members, including how to deal with structure fires as well as wildfires, situations such as road accidents, and miscellaneous duties such as search and rescue.
Ray shares the respect of the community for the volunteers of the CFA.
“They do a fantastic job,” Ray said.
“I’m awed by the dedication and professionalism that has held the brigades together for the past hundred years.”
The brigade hopes to have the publication ready by February 2026, marking one hundred years of fire services in Ferntree Gully.
