By Luke Voogt
Keith Ross has spent 40 years protecting lives and livelihoods in the Grovedale Fire Brigade, which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary.
“When you join the CFA, you quickly become the member of a big family,” the 67-year-old told the Indy Tuesday.
“You meet a lot of good people and make a lot of good friends.”
Keith moved to Grovedale in 1974 after growing up chasing fire trucks on the edge of Ballarat.
“We didn’t know too many people, and I wanted to do something for the community.”
Keith remembers fighting the bushfires which ravaged the Dandenongs in 1997.
“As soon as we got there, we were able to put our training to use,” he said.
“We just worked constantly for five or six hours, and were able to save a house or two.”
Closer to home, he remembers helping to extinguish a pallet fire at timber supplier in Marshall.
“If we hadn’t have gone to it quickly, they could have lost a lot of their timber and their livelihoods,”
The former banker now helps train the next generation of firefighters and balances the books of local brigades.
Grovedale CFA celebrated the milestone on 11 February with gala dinner, followed by an open day with displays from the Fire Services Museum of Victoria.
The brigade continued its celebrations with a community barbecue on Red Balloon Day (28 February) as the nation thanked its volunteer firefighters.
Grovedale CFA captain Robert Clark said the future looked good for the brigade’s 68 members.
“There are people on the waiting list to get in, so it’s certainly a good way to be.”
Robert has served 13 of his 27 years in the CFA at Grovedale.
“I think we have a good standing within the community.”
Grovedale Primary School students, shadow emergency minister Brad Battin and South Barwon MP Andrew Katos attended the barbecue to raise money for the brigade.
