In 1942, a particularly dry season, and a lack of manpower due to the war effort, left residents of the Bega Valley susceptible and fearful of bushfires.
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Realising a need for action, the inaugural meeting of the Jellat Jellat Bushfire Brigade was held at Tathra on August 31 that year.
Seventy-five years later, the brigade is marking the date with a look back at their service in the area during a special anniversary dinner.
The dinner will be attended by the NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, as well as other supporters of the brigade.
The Jellat RFS came from humble beginnings, fighting fires with makeshift tools such as fern hooks, rakes, hoes, axes, shovels, beaters and knapsacks.
To learn more about their past, the brigade need not look much further than their vice-president Robbie Thatcher.
As a member of the Jellat RFS for 58 years, Mr Thatcher tells new recruits how firefighting was done in the old days.
“It’s been a constant upgrading process here, we didn’t even have our current fire suits until 2001,” he said.
“And we definitely didn’t have all the tools in the trucks and the shed today.”
In fact, when Mr Thatcher signed up to the brigade in 1958 at the age of 23, they didn’t even have the trucks or the shed.
The first official firefighting vehicle was a Land Rover, received in 1971. A permanent fire shed for Jellat was built in the late 1990s, which is still in use today.
Regardless of resources, Captain Clem Barnden said the focus of the Jellat RFS has always been on the community.
“This anniversary is not so much about us, but about helping the community,” he said.
As regional brigade, the crew is often called out to assist in a number of circumstances.
“There are structure fires, pile burns, car accidents, we’ll often help out SES with fallen trees or flooding, so its much bigger than just firefighting,” Mr Barnden said.
While it is easy to direct our attention to the firefighters in the bright yellow suits, the Jellat RFS brigade want us to acknowledge the work of their volunteers behind the scenes too.
Family of the firefighters keep operations afloat at the shed while they are out on tasks, and manage accounts and fundraising events to keep the service viable.
“We wouldn’t survive without their help, this is very much a family club,” Mr Barnden said.
“Beside the fact that some of our own family members work here, because we work so closely with each other, it really transforms the whole brigade into one big family.”
Looking toward the future, the Jellat RFS is turning its focus to younger members.
Mr Barnden’s son, Michael, is the brigade’s deputy captain, and this year has also become the first youth officer at Jellat RFS.
Michael was only 15 when he joined the brigade. His new role is to attract and support young firefighters.
“It’s important for us to bring in new people so we can keep our numbers up,” Michael said.
“But I also support our current members, so if they have questions, or are confronted by things they see while firefighting or just in general life, they can speak with me.”
All 33 members of the Jellat RFS, ranging from 14 to 82 years old, will be celebrated on their anniversary dinner on Saturday, September 2.
The dinner is an occasion to reflect on the past 75 years, and reinvigorate themselves for the many more to come.