By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
A local father and son have notched up over a century of service between them with the CFA, not to mention stints with Ambulance Victoria and local community groups.<\/p>\n
Ian Dehnert joined the Ballan Fire Brigade back in 1956 \u2013 the same year television was introduced in Australia \u2013 while his son Paul joined up in 1979.<\/p>\n
When asked why he and his dad joined up, Paul Dehnert said it was simply \u201cwhat you did back then\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go back when I joined and Dad was in it, every farmer around the district was in the Fire Brigade. I started off as a kid, probably 10 years old, burning off\u2026getting on old Tommy Mullane\u2019s trailer, and sneak along putting out any tussocks or anything burning,\u201d Mr Dehnert told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe burnt lots of roadsides then, because there wasn\u2019t much traffic and you didn\u2019t slash roadsides back then, you burnt them. Dad would go to the Fire Station to do things, and I\u2019d go with him. It was a natural progression to join the Fire Brigade I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are many moments from his time at the Ballan Fire Station that Mr Dehnert recalls vividly, from Ash Wednesday to Black Saturday, and even a plane crash.<\/p>\n
He says people often ask him why he volunteers to attend such harrowing scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy attitude is, it could be my wife, my daughter, my father, in a car accident. You want someone there as quick as they can be to help them. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just community, isn\u2019t it? You\u2019re here to help the community, that\u2019s what you join the Fire Brigade for. When you go back in the day of the farmers, a lot of it was about property protection. Dad\u2019s always been involved in the community, he was on the Hall Committee, he was on the Church Committee, so he was in a lot of committees around town.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Ian and Paul Dehnert are Life Members at the Ballan Fire Station, which Paul says is \u201cthe biggest thrill I\u2019ve ever got\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes it a bit more significant, Dad also being a Life Member of the Brigade. It\u2019s probably something that\u2019s fairly unique,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lachlan Ellis A local father and son have notched up over a century of service between them with the CFA, not to mention stints with Ambulance Victoria and local community groups. Ian Dehnert joined the Ballan Fire Brigade back in 1956 \u2013 the same year television was introduced in Australia \u2013 while his son […]<\/p>\n