After working from a shed on private land for nearly 100 years, the Kayuga Rural Fire Brigade will now be able to work from their very own shed on public land thanks to the collaborative efforts of the NSW Rural Fire Service, a local mine and state and local governments.
It’s taken almost three years, but finally the shed has been built and the Kayuga RFS can move in.
The whole process has been a collaborative one between the NSW Rural Fire Service, Muswellbrook Shire Council, the state government, and local mine Mount Pleasant owned by MACH Energy.
The Mount Pleasant operation is the closest mine to the brigade and assisted with funds to complete the development application for the shed, funds to fill water tanks and other things the brigade needed throughout the process.
Ngaire Baker, the External Relations Manager for Mount Pleasant Operation said the Kayuga brigade is always willing to help them out.
“The Kayuga brigade are our closest fire service, and they are always helping us clear fire trails and anything else we need on site.
“They are also a pivotal part of the local community, attending call outs for everything from car accidents to grass and bushfires.
“We are proud to have been able to support them along their journey to getting their very own shed.”
It was a bumpy road, with the brigade’s local district office needing to apply for further funding when the tenders came back for the shed, estimating the cost to be much more than the original $650,000. The NSW RFS was able to get more funding and the shed building got underway earlier this year that will house their dual cab and Cat 7 which is a medium size tanker that can carry up to 6 crew members as well as associated equipment.
“It has been a collaborative effort to make this happen. Everybody is happy to see we are finally making progress and the brigade will have a top-notch facility,” said Inspector Mark Denton, District Manager, NSW RFS Hunter Valley.
“It’s been a long time coming and the brigade has worked hard to get their own shed to better protect the community with all the modern facilities they need.
“They have been classified as a rural/remote brigade for so long and they’ve worked so hard in recent years to push for their own identity and their own standalone brigade station within the RFS family.
“I’ve only been here for three years, but the incident rates and operational activity since I’ve been here had both increased and their community involvement has also increased.
“The brigade is family oriented, and they really support their local community – recently the brigade has seen an influx of local people into their area and there has been a high interest in them joining the brigade.”
Mark said when he arrived for the first annual general meeting three years ago there were about 12 people, and now there are more than 20 volunteers involved in the brigade.
He added that it has been really refreshing to see so many young people want to volunteer and join the brigade to help their local community.
“The entire brigade are very thankful for all of the help from MACH Energy, council, state government and the community who have helped us get our shed and we’re all looking forward to being a part of the Upper Hunter community for many years to come.”
