The campaign to replace Langley-Barfold Fire Brigade’s stolen support vehicle is gaining strong community support.
The Ford Ranger was found torched near Lake Eppalock in April and now the brigade is faced with the challenge of replacing the vehicle and having it fully functional before the next fire season.
Brigade captain Ian Lonsdale said the Ranger, equipped with a high-powered quick fill pump, drastically improved efficiency on the fireground through refill of tankers.
“Without this support vehicle and its quick fill pump facility our brigade’s ability to fight fires in our district would be severely impacted,” Mr Lonsdale said.
To be prepared for the summer, brigade president Ian DeLacy said the brigade would need to find additional funds to replace the vehicle in a short period.
“Our initial assessment is that the replacement vehicle will cost considerably more than the expected insurance recovery,” Mr DeLacy said.
Last Monday at the Kyneton Bendigo Bank branch’s 30th birthday celebrations the branch presented the brigade with a cheque for $2000.
Branch manager Karen Bloomfield said the funds were given to the branch to share with the town as part of their birthday celebrations and in part were also raised through the bank’s community sector banking for not-for-profit organisations.
The team from RT Edgar Macedon Ranges also chipped in, with the help of realestate.com.au, to make a donation.
RT Edgar director Rick Lander said realestate.com.au had a discretionary fund available for community causes.
“So we were looking for someone for this money to go to and I said ‘everyone calls the CFA as soon as there’s a fire’ so this is what we chose,” Mr Lander said.
Mr Lander and his associate director Matthew Bourke presented a cheque for $625 to Mr DeLacy and Mr Lonsdale last Wednesday.
