Three cheers for the CFA! The Mount Beauty CFA was founded in 1948 by the SEC who then owned the town of Mount Beauty and needed a fire brigade. HQ have been located on the same site in Lakeside Avenue since its inception. "It is said the original fire truck was an ex-army Blitz which was not at all suitable!"
Back in 1948, the Brigade were all employees of the SEC and were paid $1.50 per hour for training and $2.00 per hour for a callout, but were affiliated to the State CFA. When called out the workers were always allowed to leave work without question to attend any incident. Eventually in 1961 there was an agreement that the Brigade would be taken over by the CFA at the same time as the Shire took over the town. In 1992 all SES Brigades had Road Accident Rescue taken from them and Mount Beauty CFA was asked to fulfil that role in this area. Promised funding was not forthcoming so the men raised money and equipped the Brigade Fire Truck for RAR themselves.
Most common callouts in the early days were chimney fires (we get a few today too) and the tobacco kiln often went up when dried leaves fell onto the driers during the Autumn. The SEC wooden “cube houses” were notorious for ‘going up’ when the owners pulled out the cast iron fire places and had open fires which cracked the concrete underneath and set fire to the floor boards and then the house.
Today, Mount Beauty CFA, also fulfils a Road Accident Rescue Role and has a highly skilled Ropes Rescue Team which often works in conjunction with Road Accident Rescue. NOTE – STEALTH may be required. PLEASE replaced as found. Room for small swaps.
Info and photos supplied by the secretary Mt Beauty CFA from their records.