Chasing fire engines
By Rob Willis
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Have you ever chased a fire engine on a push bike accompanied by a horde of kids doing the same thing? Well I have and what’s more we not only kept up with the fire engine but sometimes passed it.
What prompted this thought was a recent short catch up at the Forbes North Fete with Brian Clarke, our Fire Captain and recent, well deserved recipient of The Australian Fire Service Medal. We started talking about the old fire engines and some of the people that were involved in this dedicated service to the community.
By now you are aware of my love for characters and larrikins and the Forbes Fire Brigade has had its share of these and probably still does. I know from people that we have spoken to, who are or have been ‘Firies” that they, by necessity, have to be a close knit bunch relying on each other for their lives. But that does not stop them having fun and also a great sense of humour. Some of the tales Brian told me were hilarious, next time you see him ask for a couple.
Better tell you about chasing fire engines on pushbikes I suppose. Back in the day before radio communication the fire fighters were alerted to an emergency by a siren that was mounted on top of the Fire Station, it could be heard all over town. From memory the siren could be activated from a box at the station and from a couple of other locations in town – a box on a red (of course) post that could be opened, the handle turned and away went the siren. As soon as it went off we kids would mount our trusty treadlies and pedal like blazes toward the fire station.
I was privileged that I lived right in town and got up there pretty quickly to watch the preliminary action of the firefighters arriving at a rate of knots in their variety of cars. They would park at any angle and anywhere and dash into the station to kit up and crank the old fire engine. They seemed to be exempt from all laws in those days, certainly the Police turned a blind eye and there were a few good drinkers among them.
Many spent much time at the Van Hotel so it was only a dash up the lane to the station. Brian’s memories of the ‘condition’ of some of the ‘troops’ on the odd occasion are hilarious, there was often fun rounding them up. But they were always there, ready and willing to get on with it and did a mighty job.
The Fire Engine was an old, 1932 Dennis and from memory it sometimes had to be hand cranked, it arrived at the Forbes Station in 1940.
Even as a child I had a fascination for old machinery and that Dennis Fire Truck was top of the list, all wood and shiny brass, a work of art. The firemen complete with brass helmets and heavy serge uniforms would clamber on board the open back and hang on for dear life. The Dennis was not the fastest machine to put it mildly, and very cumbersome hence the horde of kids could keep up with it and follow to the scene of the fire. But it was not only we kids that would form the tail of the fire engine, the adults in their cars also were part of this wonderful procession. If it were not so serious the comparison would be a scene out of an old Keystone Cops movie.
I wonder if the siren on top of the station still works? It was tested at one o’clock every Sunday, right on the dot most times and became part of the culture and ritual of Forbes. Every Sunday, siren would go “oh, it’s one o’clock”. Personally I missed it for a long while. Will one of the firemen please let me know if it still works as I would love to record the sound for posterity and our rare and endangered sound project at the National Library of Australia.
Names like Bluey South, Barry Neilsen, Seamus O’Brien, John Stapleton, Vince Roberts among others come to mind and further back the Cabot family. Long serving Captain, Ron Barter who lived above the station started in 1946 .
There are so many yarns that I may have to have another chat with Brian Clarke and a few others and see if we can tap some more memories for another day.