Perhaps not as old as some of the other aspects of the town, but celebrated its 60th birthday in 1999, The Mt Barker Volunteer Fire Brigade has seen some changes in its time.

In January 1939, some very serious and disastrous fires swept across the district. People were fighting these fires with knapsack sprays and hand pumps fitted to 44-gallon drums carried on the back of small trucks and other vehicles.

When Japan entered the war in 1939, the people of the Mt Barker district were organised into bush fire control groups. In 1942, the local A.R.P. organisation was formed, and local identity Jack Walsh, the District Fire Supervisor was appointed as Chief Fire Officer.

Mt Barker Fire Fighters 1945

The first fire truck in the town was commissioned and its building funded by Messers T.G. Symonds, F. Simper, D. Daniels, J. Walsh and T. Gilbert, and it was built by H.F. Gierke. Only a few days after the completion of the truck, the hospital caught fire and the truck saw its first public use.

In October 1943, a Bedford truck was purchased and fitted out as a second fire fighting truck. This truck met its demise during a fire in 1948, when it became trapped in a scrub fire. The crew abandoned the vehicle, which was reduced to scrap metal in a matter of minutes.

Mt Barker Fire Service crews have entered and won the State wide fire fighting competitions for many years. In the 1950's the crews in Mt Barker were reputed to have been the best equipped, presented and trained volunteer fire officers in the State.

In the 1981 and 1983 Ash Wednesday Bushfires, the Mt Barker C.F.S. crews played a large part in controlling the raging inferno as it encroached upon the town limits. The fires reached the area (now totally covered with houses) immediately adjacent to the Mt Barker South Primary School. Several local firemen were injured during the fighting of those fires and a couple of people lost their lives.

Today, this service continues in pretty much the same location as it always has in Mann Street. The crews train once a week and are on immediate call out if needed.

Mt Barker Fire Station in the 1930's

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last updated 18 October 2005