A chance to view historical fire station

THE oldest operational fire station in the southern hemisphere will be open to the public as part of Ballarat Heritage Festival.

Visitors to Ballarat Fire Station, located in Ballarat East, will be able to see firefighting equipment, vehicles, uniforms and a collection of historical items gathered by the brigade since it was founded in 1856.

Children will have the chance to take a seat in the truck and interact with equipment and current volunteer firefighters will also be on site to chat about joining the Country Fire Authority.

“It is a bit of a hidden jewel,” said Captain Mark Cartledge.

“A lot of people drive past it and don’t realise what’s inside.”

The origins of the station began in 1855 when a fire broke out destroying many buildings in Ballarat.

From there, a number of meetings were held before the first volunteers became Ballarat firefighters in 1857.

The tower was designed by Ballarat architect, Henry Caselli and constructed in 1864 by local builder and volunteer firefighter, William Cowland. “We’ve still got a lot of history including minute books from our meetings and photos right back from the day we started,” said Mr Cartledge.

Mr Cartledge said it is important to continue to share the history of the station.

“The Ballarat Fire Brigade has been a huge part of Ballarat ever since it started,” he said.

“If that brigade wasn’t born back in 1856 there would have been a lot more fires.

“The brigade has also led the way in history with the first one in Victoria to have a steam pumper and one of the first ones to have automatic fire alarms.”

The Ballarat Fire Station will be open on Saturday 25 May and Sunday 26 May 10am until 4pm.