The Freemans Reach Rural Fire Brigade‘s brand new fire station opened in the Hawkesbury district at the end of October 2022 to much local and Rural Fire Service fanfare. Various dignitaries from the RFS, Hawkesbury Fire Control, Hawkesbury Council, and state and federal representatives, including our own RFS Commissioner, Rob Rogers, spoke well and with kindness and empathy.

Proceedings began with a fitting and historic speech by current brigade Captain, Bruce Earle, who was followed by the Commissioner, the Hawkesbury mayor and state government representatives. We even opened up an audio link to Bruce’s son, Alex, who was living in England at the time of the ceremony. All in all, the ceremony’s attendance numbered above 120 VIPs, brigade members & families and local Freemans Reach residents

It’s been a really long time coming. The amount of work that’s gone into this new station is monumental and has involved nearly 20 years of lobbying, fund-raising, meetings and high anxiety.

The features list:

The end result has been nothing short of awesome, with plenty of vehicle & personal space, full & accessible facilities including separate showers, a fully kitted kitchen and training room (complete with high-tech equipment and direct link to the RFS computers), an excellent administration office with high-speed Internet connectivity.

It has 3 vehicle bays (big enough for BA equipment?!), a massive mezzanine storage area, requisite monster water tank, and a front vehicle apron large enough to mark out an Olympic-size tennis court. The list is exhaustive!

The tennis court won’t be needed though as we’re now situated right next to the Freemans Reach tennis courts, and a little closer to the village itself.

No excuses now for a brigade that has remained at the forefront of firefighting, property & village protection in the Hawkesbury region since long before 1951.