The event at Seymour RSL on August 10 was attended by CFA board member Dawn Hartog, former-captain and former group officer Seymour Group (now Mitchell Shire Group) John Clarke and long-time CFA volunteer Lesley Read as well as current and former brigade members.
CFA service awards, national medals and life memberships were given to recipients, including a 60-year service medal to former captain Leslie Bassett and a 15-year service medal to Captain William Fenech.
“The anniversary event has given members the chance to celebrate where the brigade has come from,” Mr Fenech said.
“The whole brigade got involved in trying to find information on the brigade’s history.
“We’ve managed to find the notebooks where the first brigade meeting was held over 100 years ago, the original notebook, ledgers and registration forms from all the brigade members up to the first 40 years.”
In 1924, Hilldene was formed as part of the Seymour Rural Fire Brigade, with members based at the back of the Seymour Fire Station.
Brigade members then moved to Seymour-Pyalong Rd in the 1980s, some years later changing the name of the brigade to match the town.
Mr Fenech said the brigade was formed to assist farmers in the local area and surrounds.
“At that particular time, the brigade didn’t have much in the way of equipment; they had wet sacks and fire beaters and hand tools, and primarily relied on manpower and people from the local community coming to help out,” he said.
“A lot of the brigade members were shared with Seymour [Fire Brigade] and the two brigades had been seen as siblings of sorts.
“In the 1980s the brigade decided to move out of the Seymour township, and the first block of land they moved to was owned by brigade members Margot and Kevin Green, who offered part of their land to the brigade.
“The brigade members themselves had built their first fire shed over a period of about four to six weeks.”
The brigade moved into its current station in 2011.
Despite it being a rural brigade, members have proved themselves mighty; averaging 150 callouts per year, responding to a range of fires and other incidents, particularly vehicle accidents on the Hume Hwy.
The brigade also supports the nearby Puckapunyal Army Base, local farms as well as infrastructure.
Hilldene is well resourced and has the community to thank for their generosity in helping the brigade purchase added firefighting equipment.
“We now have a heavy tanker that’s supplied by CFA and we have a newer light tanker that’s been funded by some community fundraising,” Mr Fenech said.
“We've also secured a grant to get a big fill appliance, so we will have that as well and a community funded field command vehicle.”
The brigade has played a vital support role in bushfires including Glenaroua fires in 2002 and the devastating February 2009 bushfires.
“More or less, in every campaign fire since, the brigade has sent either a truck or members to assist in major fires, including grassfires along Mickleham corridor in 2014,” Mr Fenech said.
“More than 10 brigade members participated in the deployment to NSW during the 2019/2020 fires, and when the fires came down to Victoria later that year.”
Mr Fenech said it was invaluable having past and current members gather to celebrate where the brigade has come from, as well as its history.
“Now we want to take that to the next level and start displaying some of it,” he said.
“We need to print out all the photos and scan all the material we have and put it on display so we can cherish it and see it for the next 100 years.”
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