Taroona Volunteer Fire Brigade 75th Anniversary
Mr PRESIDENT – Honourable members, before I call on special interest matters, I would like to welcome to the President’s Reserve Taroona Volunteer Fire Brigade members, Roger McNeice, Neil Cripps and Peter Gugger. I note that retired television presenters probably outnumber mere mortals in this Chamber. Welcome, gentlemen. I am sure all members will make you welcome and express their thanks for the wonderful work our volunteer fire brigades do.
Members – Hear, hear.
Taroona Volunteer Fire Brigade 75th Anniversary
Ms WEBB (Nelson) – Today I rise to speak in celebration of the Taroona Volunteer Fire Brigade which celebrated its 75th anniversary on 20 November 2021.
The brigade shared this celebration in a daylong event with the whole Taroona community at its home, the Taroona Fire Station. The celebration highlighted the important place the brigade has in the community today and the wonderful legacy of the brigade over the past 75 years.
That history was certainly on display at the event on Saturday. We were able to peruse a whole range of current and historical firefighting equipment and vehicles including vintage fire appliances on loan from the Fire Service Museum. It was fascinating to compare with equipment from today, including very significant equipment like the extending boom aerial firefighting appliance which is used today, which was a new one to me.
Another fun part of the celebration were the friendly competitive events between the Taroona Brigade and the neighbouring Mt Nelson Brigade, showing off impressive firefighting skills. As both these brigades were within the electorate of Nelson, I could not possibly take sides.
The Taroona Volunteer Fire Brigade was formed in 1946 by the late Marc Ashton. As a Taroona resident, Marc was aware that in the time it took the Hobart Fire Brigade to respond to fires in Taroona, a house on fire could be beyond saving. Wanting to ensure the better safety of his local community, Marc took the initiative of forming a local fire brigade which was a rarity in 1946.
Interestingly, this first iteration of the brigade was not formally recognised and had no legal standing, but it proved its worth early, successfully fighting several bushfires and protecting threatened houses in the area.
It was not until the Rural Fires Board was established in 1951 that the Taroona Fire Brigade became registered and known as the Taroona Rural Fire Brigade. Marc Ashton was captain of the brigade for 25 years and remained a patron of the brigade until his death in 1986.
Fortunately, the volunteer brigade already had a decade of firefighting experience under Marc’s leadership when it faced its first big test in 1957. Heatwave conditions and strong north‑westerly winds in late January that year saw several large fires burning around the Hobart area.
Taroona was particularly hard hit with one home destroyed and several hundred acres of scrub burnt. Marc and 200 volunteers battled fires for 16 long hours and were able to protect several threatened Taroona homes from the blaze. But as we know, bigger fires were yet to come.
The 1967 bushfires were the worst in Tasmanian history. On 7 February 1967, bushfires burnt through 2640 square kilometres of land in southern Tasmania in just five hours.
There were over 100 separate fires blazing including one large fire behind Taroona. While the Taroona fire had been monitored by the Taroona Fire Brigade members for several days prior, on that terrible day it got out of control, destroying several homes, the doctor’s surgery, the old public hall and many outbuildings in Taroona.
The brigade defended the area as best they could under those terrible conditions. In total, as we know, 62 people died that day and at least 90 were injured and thousands of Tasmanians were left homeless. The horror of the fires is still remembered probably by many here in the Chamber today.
It was the volunteer fire brigades, like the Taroona brigade that courageously defended our community and we owe them deep gratitude for their service on that day.
Over the years, the Taroona Fire Brigade developed a reputation for firefighting expertise. In fact, with better equipment and the young enthusiastic teams of volunteers, it was considered one of the best volunteer fire brigades in southern Tasmania.
However, it was not until 10 May 1975 that the Taroona brigade opened its first purpose‑built station. The new station had an operations and radio room, a lookout tower, a ladder and top platform. It must have been quite a luxury for the brigade, which had originally operated out of Marc Ashton’s home and then a small shed on the Channel Highway.
In speaking about the 75 years of proud history of the Taroona Fire Brigade we cannot fail to mention and acknowledge Mr Roger McNeice OAM. Roger became the second captain of the brigade following on from Marc Ashton in 1971, which must have been very big shoes to fill, but Roger held that position of captain for 12 years until 1983, followed by another three years as chief officer. Many members of the brigade over the years speak of the leadership and mentoring provided by Roger McNeice and his significant contribution to the success of the brigade.
We are also indebted to Roger for his work documenting the history of the Taroona Volunteer Fire Brigade. Much of the information I am sharing today came from his work. I also acknowledge the honour of a life membership of that brigade bestowed as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations on long-time committed member, Neil Cripps – a very fitting recognition of what I understand has been stalwart service from Neil across all aspects of the brigade, including documenting many of the events and activities through his photographs.
It is perhaps hard to remember when we are in this wet spring that Tasmania is particularly prone to fire and is regarded as most one of the bushfire affected regions of the world. Climate projections indicate that along with the rest of south eastern Australia, Tasmania’s likely to become hotter and dryer with more extreme weather days and increased risks of wild fires. I am sure dedicated volunteers at the Taroona Volunteer Fire Brigade and fire brigades throughout our state would encourage all of us to be better prepared for this upcoming fire season. We all need to do our fire plans.
I conclude by offering my hearty congratulations to the Taroona Volunteer Fire Brigade, under the current leadership of Tristan Roberts on their 75th anniversary and I extend my deepest thanks to them for their commitment and the service they provide to the community of Taroona. May it continue for another 75 years and long into the future.
Members – Hear, hear.
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