Sorrento Fire Brigade

Sorrento Urban Fire Brigade
(A brief history.)
Sorrento Urban Fire Brigade was first formed in January 1941. The official Certificate of registration with the then
Country Fire Brigades Board registers Sorrento as Brigade number 173 on the 29th• of January 1941.

The first official meeting of the Brigade was held on February the 4th.where Mr. Keith Morris ( a former Fireman from Frankston.)
was elected Captain, Mr. Bill White, Lieutenant, Mr Henry Taiton Foreman, Mr. Percy Watson Apparatus Officer and
Mr Clarrie Meredith as Secretary. The Captain, Lieutenant and Secretary held these positions for more than twenty years.

The Fire Station was a garage in George Street, Sorrento rented from Mr. Henry Wilson for two shillings and six pence a week.
This is presently the site of a green grocery store. The bell tower stood on the land opposite, where the Commonwealth Bank is
now situated. There were no electric sirens in those days and the Brigade was turned out by the ringing of the bell.

This same bell is now located in a prominent position at the front of the present Fire Station.

In July 1944 a new temporary Fire Station was erected on the spot where our Meeting Room now stands in Hayes Avenue.
Most will remember it as a fibro-cement sheet shed.

At this time the bell tower complete with bell was moved by Mr, Ed Goss to approximately where the present hose drying
tower now stands. An electric siren with a two mile range was purchased by the Brigade in 1969 and installed on the tower.
All fire calls were communicated to the Brigade by telephone through the manual exchange, very different to today’s modern
electronic systems. While in this temporary accommodation a new fire station was built on the present site by the McClean
brothers.

The brigade started off with a trailer pump as its first appliance. The first man there with a suitable vehicle towed the trailer to
the fire scene. This unit was soon updated with a Bedford fire truck on which the men stood on a running board along the side.
The next to come was a Ford v8 front mounted pumper. At this stage there were no electric bells or sirens and it was generally
the duty of the youngest and fittest member to lay along the roof of the truck and ring the bell with a hand rope. A former
Captain, the late Ken Opie said this was one of his first jobs when he joined the Brigade. There has been a succession of
trucks at this Brigade, the next being an Austin front mounted pumper complete with an electric bell and it was when this
vehicle was in service that the Brigade saw the need for a four wheel drive tanker as well. With the help of public donations the
Brigade through the CFA purchased an International 4x4 cab and chassis which the CFA built up as a 4x4 tanker.

We were then a two truck Brigade. These two vehicles gave excellent service over many years but have since been superceded
by various vehicles to what you see now at the station.

Over the years the number of calls responded to by the Sorrento Fire Brigade has steadily increased and currently the Brigade responds to approximately
130 calls per year. Many of the calls for assistance do not involve fire.

One of the most significant calls to this Brigade was from the Police to help in the search for the late Prime Minister Harold Holt at Cheviot Beach Portsea. The Brigade was on duty searching for two days.

Another significant turn out was to assist at Koonya Beach where some men were in difficulties in the surf. Unfortunately three men drowned and only one was saved. Several Brigade members were awarded the Bronze Medal by the Royal Humane Society and/or Certificates of Merit.

The Brigade has responded to a number of calls to assist hang glider pilots in danger along the back beach area between Sorrento and Portsea..

Sorrento also has many members who have been depoyed on "Strike Teams" to help out with fires anywhere in the state and interstate.

 
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