By Vanessa Chircop
FIRE Station 45 in Spotswood celebrated its 50th birthday last week.
The Spotswood station opened in 1960 after the Yarraville station – which opened in 1892, was closed.
Station Officer and Australian Fire Service Medal recipient Noel Flakemore has been stationed at Spotswood for more than 35 years.
Mr Flakemore said it was important to celebrate this 50 year milestone.
“It’s 50 years not just for the building but for the firefighters who have come here – and there have been major fires in the western suburbs – they were first on scene at the West Gate Bridge collapse,” he said.
“It (the building) has a pretty proud history and has served the community well – it’s built in a residential area so it’s still part of the community and it’s been quite a busy station over the years.”
Hobsons Bay Councillor John Hogg said the community looks to the fire brigade to protect and serve them.
“Though there has been a decline in the frequency of house fires the fire brigade help with disaster situations and assist ambulance and emergency services,” Cr Hogg said.
“The role now of just purely putting out fires has changed somewhat.”
In May 1961 the station saw its first ever electric refrigerator installed for the mess room and a table tennis table for the recreation room which was considered quite a milestone.
In more recent times the station has responded to significant events including the Butler’s Transport incident in 1985, the West Gate Bridge collapse in 1970 and the station continues to work very closely with all major hazard facilities in the area.
Station 45 is set to be relocated to a more modern facility once an appropriate site is established.
The future of the Spotswood fire station site is yet to be determined.
