There is evidence that the Ridgewood Rural Fire Brigade commenced activities (albeit in another form to what it is today) in early 1960s. There are bank slips in the Brigades possession dating from July 1960. At that time, it was known as the Ridgewood Bushfire Brigade.
In the early years, the Brigade consisted of farmers using their tractors and implements.
Austpark joined the Brigade in 1995, when it had an ex-military ACCO, a Land Cruiser and a Land Rover – a far cry from what we have now. The ACCO could go anywhere, but at a speed around 10 miles an hour. The Brigade now has 2 Isuzu Medium Attacks and 1 Ford Ranger Light Attack.
In the 70s and 80s, there were no radios for communication. It was all done by the old telephone system. It then progressed to some radios such as Uniden, . At one stage there were 13 different handheld radios. The Brigade then progressed to Simoco UHF and VHF radios. Following an international meeting in Brisbane where the security system used digital radios, the Fire Service began using the digital GWN radios in South East Qld
A Rural Fire Brigade (RFB) rarely gets called to anything but bush and grass fires. It can get called to different fires (e.g. house), but it is usually there to provide extra water for the Fire & Rescue Service (FRS). Our vehicles are yellow, and the FRS vehicles are red. All of our members are volunteers.
To solve the Jigsaw, go to Ridgewood Rural Fire Station
Beware of muggles on weekends. Do not go past the “Authorised Vehicles Only” sign.