Decades of service to firefighting recognised by Country Fire Authority District 17 Headquarters Brigade

A total of 17 members received honours on the night, with CFA deputy chief officer John Haynes presenting the medals and clasps. Ivan Smith, of Brimpaen, was the most decorated recipient receiving his 5^th Clasp to recognise more than 65 years of service.

“When he was presenting my clasp, Mr Haynes said he had never met someone with 65 years of service before,” Mr Smith said.

“I was very honoured to get that award, but I feel as though the friendships I’ve made over the years through the service far outweigh the time and effort that I’ve put into it. You really make friends for life, just like any club. To help put out fires and help other people gives me great satisfaction.”

Mr Smith was 16 when he first registered with the Brimpaen Fire Brigade.

“It was the expected thing to join the fire brigade. My uncle Hector Smith was the original captain of the brigade when it was first formed in 1939,” he said.

“We had demonstration teams back then, where we travelled to many different places around the state to compete in championships.”

He said one of the more significant fires he helped fight happened at Brimpaen in 1957.

“There was a fire that started at Mockinya that ran into Brimpaen and then into parts of Laharum. That was a major fire and it was an experience that prepared us for other large fires. We learnt a lot about the recovery and clean up after major fires because of that fire,” he said.

Related: Book celebrates the history of the Brimpaen fire brigade 

With 65 years of experience under his belt, Mr Smith said he had seen numerous changes to the way fires were tackled.

“We only had phones when I started. When we got radios we thought that was a great step forward. We had a Family Radio Service system – when someone saw a fire they would call this number which would then contact four or five people within the brigade so we could all talk together,” he said.

“Equipment has also seen a massive change – we had an old army truck as our first brigade truck at Brimpaen. Fighting fires with aircraft was also a big change, we never had that years ago. Then we’ve also seen changes within management as well. There are a lot more people involved in the CFA office now.”

Mr Smith said he had no plans to retire from the CFA anytime soon.

“The Headquarters Brigade is for older members who don’t fight fires anymore, but we help out by perhaps taking food or equipment out to firefighters. As you get older you learn that you have to scale back things, so I won’t drive the vehicles anymore, but there are lots of things that I can still do.”

Ian Ballinger was also decorated at the presentation ceremony, receiving his 4^th Clasp. Mr Ballinger was Horsham Fire Brigade secretary from 1969 to 1979, and captain from 1979 to 1986.

“I first joined in 1953. I was 18 and would have joined earlier, but because of National Service training, they told me to leave it until I’d done that training,” he said.

“Things have certainly changed, so I feel like I’m fortunate enough to still be here. I will be sticking with it for a while longer. Ivan and I are both very proud to say that, during our burning off days, we never had one fire get away on us.”

District 17 Headquarters Brigade was founded in 2006 after operations manager Dale Russell saw the success Headquarters Brigades had been in South Australia.

The aim of the Headquarters Brigade is to draw on the experience, expertise and enthusiasm of less active or former members of local brigades to assist all District 17 brigades and staff in managing administration and supporting emergencies.

The Headquarters Brigade currently has more than 40 members.