On Friday, July 1 the Bega Fire Station will celebrate a centenary of Bega community service.
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As far back as 1882 a Fire Brigade for Bega was being discussed by the influential people of the township.
As a result, Hamilton Howard Tuke became the honorary secretary for the Bega Volunteer Fire Brigade, however, this proved a failure as not enough interested volunteers would sign up to support such a group.
In the township there were a lot of wooden buildings in close proximity to each other and so there was always the danger of fire spreading and causing much damage.
In July 1887 a fire started in the McNamara stables at the rear of the Club Hotel on the corner of Carp and Church Streets.
It spread to the balcony of Cowdroy’s Store (now the Centrelink building) but, because the main building was of brick, the fire was able to be contained and this building was saved with minimal damage.
However a wooden store containing stock was totally destroyed.
It was all hands on deck and the passing of the buckets of water between the townsfolk helped to avoid what could have been a disaster for the town.
Five months later a fire started in the upstairs section of Brown’s Commercial Hotel, Carp St.
The fire was noticed in its early stages and, once again with the assistance of the public, only minor damage occurred.
After experiencing these two fires within a short period, the subject of establishing a Fire Brigade for Bega was once again raised.
A meeting was organised in the School of Arts by mayor M.J. Peden, at which fifty citizens attended.
However, once again no commitment to the cause was made by the residents.
In May 1900 the newspapers were still reporting that a Fire Brigade needed to be established.
Householders were encouraged to vote on the formation of a Brigade.
There were 360 citizens entitled to vote but, out of this number, only 21 voted in favour and 27 against.
Those in favour were not to be discouraged as Mr. Phillip Rosenthall started to organise a ball and other activities in an endeavor to raise funds for the establishment of a local Brigade.
His efforts paid off and in February 1901 he was advised that the local member, Mr. H. Clarke, had been successful in obtaining a grant of £200 towards the purchase of a fire engine as long as the local community raised a similar amount.
By October 1901 volunteers were being called for the formation of a Fire Brigade.
Whyman and Brooks built the undercarriage of the newly acquired steam engine, charging only cost price.
At the 1902 Bega Annual Show, Mrs. Bland formally christened this machine “The Henry Clarke”.
Mr. J.E Jackson was the first Brigade captain, but in September 1902 he resigned and was replaced by Robert Whyman who retained this position for the next fifteen years.
By 1904 the Brigade had 800 feet of hose and a large tank had been installed for the storage of water at the rear of Rixon’s auction mart.
Access to supplies of water was a huge issue in order that the Brigade could operate successfully.
In December 1906, 66 feet of water pipe was laid in Carp St by Dick Taylor after which there were now three places where the hose could be connected within the township.
In April 1907 horses and a driver were supplied to operate the steam fire engine.
However delays frequently occurred in getting the fire engine and volunteers to the scene of the fire and, insome instances, the success of the fire being put out relied on the neighbours’ assistance.
In 1910 the Brigade purchased a chemical fire extinguisher which weighed only 60 lbs.
In that same year Mr. P. Rosenthall, president of the brigade, retired and was recognised for having established and supported the brigade over the last 10 years.
A year later the members of the Brigade were issued with uniforms which consisted of peaked caps similar to those worn by a mounted trooper, navy blue coat and trousers.
In 1912 the Fire Station was connected to the local telephone exchange and its number was 47.
In the early years the community was alerted to a fire by the ringing of the fire brigade’s bell as well as St. John’s Church bells.
In addition the local policeman would also fire three revolver shots in an endeavor to alert the citizens of the danger.
By late 1915 it was decided that Bega required a more modern up-to-date fire station and plans were drawn up by the Works Department for a building to be erected on a quarter acre block of land situated on the Corner of Gipps and Upper St. in Bega.
The dilapidated old building that had occupied this block had previously been Henry Brown’s blacksmith shop and the Brigade was renting it at a cost of 1s 6d per week.
On 8 January 1916 tenders were advertised for the erection of the new Station.
It was reported in the Bega Budget on 5 February 1916 that Mr Box had won the tender to build the new station.
Three weeks later the site had been cleared ready for the building to be commenced.
One hundred years ago on 1 July 1916 the modern Bega Fire Station was opened by Mr. E. Farrar, M.L.C., President of the Board of Fire Commissioners.
Mr. Shepherd, representative of the country councils on the Board, and Mr. H.M. Webb, secretary, also attended this special occasion.
The Mayor, Ald. Blomfield, a number of the Aldermen along with members of the Brigade and some interested residents were amongst those assembled for the opening.
The Mayor proudly announced that the Bega Brigade was the only one outside the Metropolitan area where the firemen’s residences were connected to the station by electric bells.
A belfry and flag pole were also erected in the Station’s grounds.
The cost of the land and building was approximately £1,100 and, at the time of the opening, there was a debit balance of about £700. It was the Bega Municipal Council’s responsibility to pay a third of the yearly running costs.
The Government and insurance companies covered the remainder of the costs. In addition to the tanks in Carp Street, Rev. Father Gunning had permitted two more 1,200 gallon tanks to be placed in the grounds of the Roman Catholic Church.
After dedicating many years to the local Fire Brigade, Captain Robert Whyman resigned in March 1917 and his position was filled a couple of months later by Captain J. Jewell. Mid 1917 a new 12 h.p. Aster turbine engine arrived.
This was driven by benzene and instead of having to wait for the steam to get up, all that was required was a turn of the handle and the engine started work immediately.
The engine was supplied mounted on a handsome carriage of solid cedar, capacity 220 gallons of water per minute, total weight being 26 cwt and was made in the Board’s workshop in Sydney.
This fire engine was a huge improvement on what the volunteers had to work with previously.
In 1930 Bega received a motor fire engine which proved to be an outstanding success.
The first occasion when this was used was in July of that year when a fire started in Stephen Monck’s home in Peden Street.
A number of years ago improvements and an extension to the Station were made by Koellner Constructions.
- Information from local newspapers and Kevin Tetley.