Fire Brigade
This plaque is located outside the Fire Station in McKenzie St.
Cobden Fire Brigade Jubilee Year 1938 – 1988
The Cobden Urban Fire Brigade, founded in 1938 and housed in Silvester Street, moved to its modern state-of-the-art premises in McKenzie Street in May 2003. At that time, the urban and local rural brigades merged to become the Cobden Fire Brigade.
Since 1938, the brigade has had seven captains – Jack Rose, Ron Trotter, Bob Hulands, Eric Fagan, Bob Andrews, Bill Nelson and Dale Robertson.
Active fire-fighting membership numbers have fluctuated over the years between 20 and 35, and the brigade has proudly enlisted many junior members since the early 1980s.
The competition side of Cobden Urban Fire Brigade has seen members competing very successfully around the State and beyond. The seniors won a State championship at Swan Hill in 1981 and the juniors followed suit at Yarrawonga in 1993.
Brigade turn-outs average about six to eight a month, obviously peaking in summer, with a lot of strike team activity involving travel to fight large bushfires all over Victoria and New South Wales.
Cobden’s biggest fire involvements have been the Ash Wednesday (1983), Black Saturday (2009) and St Patrick’s Day (2018) blazes with the Pauls’ Store fire in 1994 being a significant challenge in the town itself.
Along with life members, Eric Fagan, Alice Fagan, Thelma Parlour, Bob Andrews, Dennis Power, Lex Parlour (all dec), Geoff Fagan and Bill Nelson, the brigade has several others who have provided between 35 and 55 years of service.
The brigade, which meets and trains on a monthly basis, prides itself on having access to the most modern fire-fighting equipment and wearing the safest and most protective turn-out gear.
The local siren was always heard weekly but up-to-date technology has seen the introduction of individual pagers which improves turn-out times to incidents. The siren is only used when absolutely required for community awareness purposes.
The brigade’s new premises, a multi-function facility that houses a full-time region administrator, has the capacity to coordinate emergency services when major incidents occur in the area.
A true community hub, it epitomises the spirit of the much-respected Cobden Fire Brigade.
