Rural fire brigade turns 75

Contributed by Ron Gillinder

Queensland’s first rural fire brigade was registered in the Glasshouse Mountains

THE Glasshouse Mountains Rural Fire Brigade has reached a 75 year milestone and was the first Brigade registered in Queensland.
The Brigade was originally formed by the United Fruitgrowers Cooperative Association of the Glasshouse Mountains. On December 7 1948, the Association Secretary (W Forster) wrote to the Secretary of the Rural Fires Board in Queensland advising him that a Bush Fire Brigade had been formed at a meeting of the Association on 6 December.
Queensland’s first Rural Fire Brigade was registered on 13 June 1949 at the Glasshouse Mountains. The Brigade was gazetted in the State Government Gazette and issued with a certificate of registration.
The inaugural First Officer of the new Brigade was Charles Thomas Pratt Gardner.
He was also appointed Fire Warden, a post he held for at least 12 years. In 1948 the foundation members were:
J J Barr, L N Atkinson, H A Aplin, S J Collings, A D Clarke, W Forster, J S Fullerton, R Fullerton, C T P Gardner, R M Gardner, H D Garrad, G Garrett, J Gowen, W Gilvear, J E Hammill, F Hemstock (Jnr), H Y James, H Kruck, H L Meyrick, W Milburn, R J McKay, G Sargent, R G Sexton, H Shaw, J W Tyler, J Young.
This information was included in a history of the volunteer Queensland Rural Fires Organisation 1927-1990 and beyond ‘from Beaters to Bambi Buckets’, by Don and Daphne Greenhalgh.