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Welcome to Riddell CFA!Latest NewsFire Restrictions lifted across Macedon Ranges and Hume shires. - 01/04/2008 Residents from Riddells Creek and the surrounding areas are advised that as of 1am on the 1st May, 2008, Fire Restrictions were lifted in the Macedon Ranges and Hume shires. Anyone wishing to now take the opportunity to burn off need to be aware that council By-Laws still limit what people can and can't burn. More information can be found at our Fire Restrictions page. If you have any queries about burning off, don't hesitate to contact us on 5428 6000.
Brigade election results - 08/04/2008 Tonight the Riddells Creek Fire Brigade held their elections in order to select their officers and managers for the next 2 year period. After 8 wonderful years as service as Captain, Dave Thompson decided it was time to step aside and make way for a new brand of leadership within the brigade. The Brigade would like to take this opportunity to thank Dave for his leadership over the past 8 years and we wish all of the following office bearers the best of luck when they officially commence their duties on July 1 later this year.
Captain: Toby Tresise 1st Lieutenant: Nick Tschuck 2nd Lieutenant: Alex Batty 3rd Lieutenant: Dean Anderson 4th Lieutenant: Chris McColley Comms Officer: Ross Hall Secretary: Michael Hemingway Treasurer: Peter Tisdall Training Manager: Martin Leitch Equipment Manager: Marcus Bootle Catering & Support Manager: Louise Hemingway Community Safety Manager: Dean Anderson JFB Coordinator: Mark White FEM Coordinator: Don Clark
Change your clock, change your smoke alarm battery! - 05/04/2008 Daylight savings comes to an end this Sunday the 6th of April. The Riddells Creek Fire Brigade, along with many fire authorities across Australia, also recommend home owners to take this opportunity to change their smoke alarm batteries as they change their clocks over. For more information, please visit http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/residents/home/smoke.htm.
Fire Restrictions continue to remain in force in Riddells Creek area until May 2008- 21/03/20 As the weather begins to get a little colder, it's easy to fall into the trap of assuming that fire restrictions have been lifted. However, fire restrictions are still in place in the Riddells Creek area and will continue to be in effect until 1st May, 2008. So as a word of cation, please remember that burning off without a written permitted is still prohibited and punishable by law. For more information about fire restrictions, please click here.
$2000 raised for the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday appeal! 21/03/2008 The Riddells Creek Fire Brigade would like to extend a warm thank you to the many people who donated to the 2008 Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday appeal today. Thanks to the efforts of a number of volunteer fire-fighters from the Riddells Creek Fire Brigade, a total of $1950 was collected at the annual Easter sale at Webbers Garden Centre and outside the Riddells Creek post office. This sum marks a record taking since the fire brigade have started collecting for the appeal.
The Riddells Creek Fire Brigade would like to thank the team at Webbers Garden Centre for their annual support to the appeal and look forward to raising even more towards this worthy cause next year.
Riddells Creek members undertake teamwork and leadership training - 18/03/2008 Fighting fires would have to be regarded as one of the few jobs that requires such a high level of teamwork and group cooperation.
In order to nurture a team oriented culture, members at the Riddells Creek Fire Brigade have recently undertaken teamwork and leadership training. The theoretical aspects of this session were reinforced through a number of hands-on team building activities; all of which aimed to improve the way in which our volunteer fire-fighters perform and function as teams.
Differences in peoples age, gender, culture and background are some of the many reasons that have lead to the Riddells Creek Fire Brigade being such a diverse collection of people. The images below captured some of the moments during this course where the brigade members were required to pull together as a team and work towards achieving a set task.
Suspicious person acting as fire-safety salesman- 13/03/2008 Recently there have been reports of an individual going from door to door in the Riddells Creek community offering advice and products regarding summer and winter fire safety. Please note this individual is not associated with the Riddells Creek Fire Brigade or Country Fire Authority. During the summer season the Riddells Creek Brigade conducts the Bushfire and Emergency Services Expo along with a number of Fire Ready Victoria and Community Fire Guard presentations throughout the town. Residents will be advised of these events via the Riddell Round Up and associated CFA mail drops.
All CFA members are issued with a personal identification card and I encourage all resident to ask for this documentation to be produced if someone approaches your home.
This matter has been reported to Victoria Police and is currently being investigated.
Heat wave hits Victoria - 12/03/2008 With the mercury set to reach or exceed 30 degrees for the next seven days the community are reminded that Fire Restrictions Are In Force. There is a good chance that many of these days will also be declared Total Fire Bans and everyone is urged to remain vigilant. Although some soaking rain during January brought a green tinge to the countryside there is still plenty of dry material that will burn. Check here for Fire Restrictions Check here for Can I or Can't I
Man lucky to be alive after freak tractor accident - 24/02/2008 A male aged in his late 40's is lucky to be alive after a freak accident involving a grass slasher today. The male victim was using the tractor to slash an area of grassland at Riddell Airfield before becoming trapped underneath a slasher attachment shortly after noon today.
Crews from the Riddells Creek Fire Brigade had arrived at the Websters Road address within 5 minutes of receiving the call, shortly before the arrival of ambulance, police and volunteers from the Gisborne SES unit. The large team of emergency service personnel spent spent up to one hour using specialised hydraulic jacking equipment to free the occupant from under the slasher.
Initial investigations into the cause of the accident have lead emergency crews into believing that the slasher operator had fallen from the tractor before being dragged underneath and becoming trapped. After sustaining minor injuries and being treated on scene by paramedic crews, the patient was airlifted to hospital in a stable condition. Click on the images below to enlarge.
Fire safety DVD delivered to all homes in Riddells Creek - 5/02/2008 More than 100,000 households that may be at risk of bushfires around the state, including those homes in Riddells Creek, will soon receive a free fire safety DVD - Living on the Edge. CFA with the support from RACV Insurance, have produced the nine-minute DVD which provides practical advice on how to deal with the threat of fire. For those residents who have not received a copy of this DVD within the next week or two, feel free to contact us. Copies of this DVD will also be available from selected RACV retail shops by mid-February.
House fire under investigation - 30/01/2008 CFA members from the Riddells Creek and Gisborne Fire Brigades attended a derelict house-fire in Gisborne overnight. Crews were alerted to the Brady Road fire shortly after 11pm but the fire quickly took hold of the abandoned weatherboard house. At present, the cause of the fire is still unknown but is being treated as suspicious.
Merry Christmas from the Riddells Creek Fire Brigade - 25/12/2007 From everybody at the Riddells Creek Fire Brigade, we would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody in Riddells Creek a very Merry and safe Christmas!
Santa makes flying visit to Riddells Creek!- 24/12/2007 Before commencing his world wide tour this evening, Santa made a quick stop-over here in Riddells Creek. All of the children of Riddells Creek were treated to a surprise bag of lollies as Santa travelled the streets of the town with the help of the local fire truck. Thank you to all of the residents who took this opportunity to say "thank you" to the Fire Brigade and your kind words, and in some cases the gifts, were greatly appreciated.
Congratulations to those who received this years awards!- 23/12/2007 Today's Christmas lunch was the perfect opportunity to recognise some of the outstanding contributions made by members of the Riddells Creek Fire Brigade during 2007. A presentation concluded today's lunch which saw a number of awards being issued to some of the Brigade members. We would like to congratulate the following recipients...
Local's pitch in to help create new uniform room. - 12/12/2007 A new new state-of-the-art storage room has been constructed at the Riddells Creek Fire station thanks to the generous support from a few local tradesmen. Rex Bennett and Travis Stevens (WeKan Constructions) donated considerable amounts of time towards the project which saw a new room created to store the brigade's uniforms. Rex supported the project by providing a number of pre-fabricated steel brackets whilst Travis from WeKan Constructions provided some fine carpentry skills by attaching the clothing racks into place. This new clothing room will make it safer and quicker for the fire-fighters of the brigade to change into their uniform as they arrive at the fire station for an emergency call. If you would like further details for businesses who helped with this project, feel free to Contact Us.
House fire at Darraweit Guim - 5/12/2007 CFA crews from Riddells Creek, Romsey, Wallan, Clarkefield, Bolinda and Springfield were called to support the Darraweit Guim Fire Brigade this afternoon at a house fire on the Bolinda-Darraweit Road. In a bid to supply extra water for the firefighting effort, Riddells Creek were called upon to respond their Tanker at around 3.10pm. Early reports into the fire indicate that the home was totally destroyed by the blaze. Investigations into the cause of the fire are continuing.
Driver lucky to escape early morning crash - 23/11/2007 A middle aged man is lucky to be alive after he and his vehicle were involved in a serious car accident early this morning. Shortly after 2am this morning, CFA crews from Riddells Creek and Clarkefield were called to support the SES and Ambulance services with a vehicle that had come off the road and rolled repeatedly near the Bolinda Bridge on the Melbourne-Lancefield road. The occupant was trapped for up to an hour before finally being cut from the vehicle and transported to hospital by road. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
Bushfire & Emergency Services Expo huge success - 11/11/2007 With perfect weather this years Expo was a huge success with an estimated 1000 people attending and enjoying the day. People came from near and far to witness this event. Even from as far away as South Australia they made the trip.
Creating Safer Communities - Kathryn court burn-off - 8/11/2007 Fine weather allowed the Riddells Creek Fire Brigade to conduct a fuel reduction burn-off in the Kathyrn court / Sutherlands road vicinity this evening. Apart from a large amount of smoke being generated, the burn-off went as planned. The aim of the burn-off was to reduce to amount gorse bushes in the reserve area at the end of Kathryn court.
Fire Restrictions declared -1/11/07 Fire Restrictions in the Macedon Ranges and Hume City Council areas will take effect as of 1:00am on Monday November 12th. Local residents wishing to reduce fuel loads around their home are advised that if they wish to burn off, they may only do so until restrictions come into force. This news also comes as a warning to those who are tempted to burn off during the Fire Danger Period that the "Zero Tolerance" policy will be enforced across the entire Region this summer. Police personnel have been informed across Region 14 to place charges against anyone who is found breaching these restrictions. Further information can be found at our Fire Restrictions page. Riddellcfa.com gets an uplift! - 19/10/07 Welcome to the new Riddells Creek Fire Brigade website! After months of fine-tuning the design and the content, the new concept is finally here. We intend this site will provide key information to the Riddells Creek township and the surrounding areas such as fires that have been occurring, real-time weather information, wildfire survival tips and information about the Brigade, and the CFA in general. We would like to acknowledge the hard work that Kris Marsh has put into the design of the new webpage concept. If you have any suggestions about how the page could be improved, feel free to contact us. Warm weather keeps fire-fighters busy - 18/10/07 High temperatures, low humidity's and winds of up to 90km/hr today fanned a significant grassfire at Gisborne South. Crews from Sunbury and Gisborne were alerted to a grassfire in the Calder FWY / Millet Road area shortly after 7.30am but as the fire entered a pine plantation and threatened nearby houses, Riddells Creek were called to assist along with crews from Macedon, Mt Macedon, Bulla and Diggers Rest. Meanwhile, a separate blaze also occurred at nearby Toolern Vale. After experiencing difficulties while mopping up the blaze, crews where finally released to return home from the fire at around 2pm. The cause of both fires are still under investigation. Bushfire threatens home at Bullengarook - 15/10/07 Riddells Creek members played a major role in providing assistance at a number of fires which occurred in the local area today. At 3.45pm Riddells Creek were asked to join forces with Gisborne, Bullengarook and a number of other brigades at a bushfire at Hobbs Road Bullengarook. The 2ha blaze was the result of a previous burnoff which had reignited and at one stage threatened nearby homes. At the peak of the fire-fight, up to 15 appliances were on the scene. Then by 5pm an additional call was received for a garage fire at nearby Dalton Street in Gisborne which saw further resources being required to now deal with a new fire of a totally different nature. Riddells Creek Members successful in their search for a missing elderly woman - 1/10/07 CFA members from Riddells Creek, Gisborne, Macedon and Mt Macedon brigades joined forces today with police and SES personnel in a bid to locate a 72 year old woman, missing since 1pm on Saturday afternoon. Riddells Creek members were responded early this morning to assist police and SES teams as the scoured the streets of Mount Macedon, desperately trying to locate the missing woman. After disappearing from the Wooling Hill Memorial Garden on Saturday, the elderly woman trekked the local streets of New Gisborne and Mount Macedon before making her way to Bendigo by train. Thanks to a number of reported sightings by local residents, the woman was located safe and well at Bendigo early this evening after she had been observed boarding a train from Macedon over the weekend. The CFA, SES and Victoria Police crews were praised bot only for the successful result, but also for the level of professionalism they demonstrated and the manner in which all three organisations worked together during the ordeal. Generation Y plan CFA’s future
- 15/07/07 Following the completion of the 36 page document, some of these brigade members were then invited to present their findings to the CEO of the organisation, Neil Bibby, and a collection of members from the upper tier of CFA’s corporate management structure. Discussions are currently taking place to determine whether the report can be made publicly available. House saved during early morning blaze
- 01/07/07 After waking to the sound of a screeching smoke alarm, the Gisborne family witnessed one entire section of their home engulfed in flames. The CFA was alerted shortly before 4am, only to arrive on scene minutes later to find one section of the house well alight. A team of 25 firefighters and 5 appliances took around 20 minutes to bring the blaze under control. Search for missing girl ends with happy
ending - 04/06/07 As the darkness and cold weather set in, fears grew for the safety of the girl who was believed to have wandered down towards the creek or be lost in thick bushland behind the township of Riddells Creek. Amid these fears, the Riddells Creek and Gisborne Fire Brigades were called to assist the SES and Police with the search effort. As emergency services began to intensify their search, the missing child arrived on the doorstep of a nearby rural property, safe and well. Natural Gas comes to Riddell - 15/04/2007 This Friday coming the 20th of April 2007 between 2pm and 7pm at the Riddells Creek Elderly Citizens building there will an information session presented by the various Gas suppliers and SP-Ausnet the company installing the Natural Gas pipelines in Riddell. Fire restrictions end for Riddells Creek
- 15/04/2007 Fire restrictions still in force -
07/04/2007 Change your clock - 24/03/2007 Winter is fast approaching with people already lighting their fires for warmth."Only working smoke alarms save lives!" is not just a catch phrase. Working smoke alarms have saved many people in the Macedon Ranges over the last few years.More information on smoke alarms can be found here. Total Fire Ban - 23/03/2007 Total Fire Ban -  |
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