New vehicle to improve fire brigade’s emergency response

COMMUNITY Bank Buninyong has provided thirty thousand dollars worth of funding to the Buninyong-Mount Helen Fire Brigade to replace their ageing Forward Command Vehicle.

FCVs are utility vehicles used for crew and strike team leader transport, and mobile incident control during emergencies, and have specialised technology and communication systems in-built.

The new Buninyong-Mount Helen Ford Ranger FCV will be highly visible, have enhanced safety features, in-built whiteboards and maps, and allow for faster set-up ahead of crew briefings on the fire ground.

It will be ready to support neighbouring CFA brigades in Golden Plains including Napoleons, Corindhap, Dereel, Rokewood, Lal Lal, and across Victoria

“The Buninyong-Mount Helen Fire Brigade has had a busy season to date, providing crews and vehicles to incidents not only in our local area but also in being deployed to Lal Lal, Napoleons, Mount Doran, Rokewood, Corindhap, Dereel, Creswick and the Grampians,” said Captain Gareth Smith.

“This current funding being provided by the Community Bank Buninyong is a significant investment in capability for the brigade to continue to provide support to not only the Buninyong and Mount Helen area but also the wider Ballarat, Moorabool and Golden Plains regions and beyond.

“This support for a new, safer, modern, purpose built vehicle builds on the previous support from the bank that has seen our outgoing FCV for the last 14 years and we look forward to the new FCV supporting for the next 10 to 15 years.”

Community Bank Buninyong community partnerships lead Kelly Bevan said the bank recognises the challenges faced by volunteer fire brigades in securing funding for essential firefighting gear.

“This new FCV will improve their ability to respond to emergencies, which in turn strengthens the resilience of our entire community,” she said.

Buninyong-Mount Helen Fire Brigade’s current FCV has 45 to 50 callouts a year.