By NATALIE GALLENTI
The Melton fire brigade will unveil a wall commemorating volunteers who have died while serving the CFA and those who have passed away after more than 15 years of service. 97502
THE Melton fire brigade will this week unveil a commemorative wall to pay tribute to volunteers who have passed away.
The wall will include plaques displaying the names of volunteers who lost their life while serving the brigade or deceased members who served for 15 years or more.
Melton fire brigade member Peter Staindl said the wall was “a bit of recognition for volunteers”.
Peter, who has been volunteering for almost four decades, said the wall would help retain some of Melton’s important heritage and will be there for years to come.
“It’s about retaining the heritage of the town … in years to come it will be there to pay tribute … to commemorate and celebrate,” he said.
“To see the wall there, even the younger kids are seeing a lot of history and paying their respects.”
The wall will be unveiled this Saturday at the station with members of the Country Fire Authority and Melton City Council attending.
Meanwhile, the Melton CFA has further strengthened its capabilities in road rescue with the addition of 10 career fire-fighters to the brigade.
The new dedicated road rescue crew started operating earlier this month with an extra two fire-fighters per shift who will operate the brigade’s specialised road rescue truck and equipment.
Melton CFA senior station officer Michael Masters said the extra crew would benefit both the brigade and the community.
“Obviously it will reduce our response times to road accidents which is important with Melton fire brigade being first responders in road rescue,” Mr Masters said.
“It will also ease the pressures on both career and volunteer members as the brigade does attend quite a lot of road rescue calls.”
The new firefighters have come from stations including Point Cook, Sunbury and Ballarat.
