It’s not often two Country Fire Authority brigades 150 kilometres apart have anything to do with each other – except in times of wide-spread fire emergency – but Tongala and Newham CFA brigades have made an exception to the rule.
On Sunday Newham presented Tongala with a quick fill trailer which is used for fast filling of fire fighting tankers on the fire ground from dams, creeks or other water sources.
The quick fill had become surplus to Newham’s needs and members wanted it to still be put to good use so donating it to another brigade was the obvious answer. So why Tongala?
“There has been a transfer of a Newham member to Tongala and so we know a little about their operations,” Newham Lieutenant Bryan Hornbuckle said.
“We knew they’d be able to make good use of the quick fill. Not only do they attend incidents in their own immediate area, they back up Echuca, Kyabram and other brigades as well.
“They also often need to draw water from channels so the quick fill is ideal.
“We also wanted the trailer to go to a brigade which doesn’t have the fund raising abilities that brigades like ours does in the Macedon Ranges. Tongala is also of course, in a dairying area which has been hit hard by drought and the high cost of water and with the closure of Nestle in Tongala looming, Newham thought they’d like to give them a boost on,” Lt Hornbuckle said.
Accepting the trailer for the brigade, Tongala Captain Dave Wright said they were quite honoured to have been thought of and he knew the brigade would certainly get plenty of use from the quick fill.
Tongala last year attended more than 130 emergency call outs and this year has so far attended 65 incidents.
