Sixty-seven years ago John Clark was among a bunch of young blokes who thought joining the fire brigade was a good way to do their bit for the town they called home.
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John was living in Tongala at the time, his dad was the station master at the now long gone railway station and a teenage version of the now 83-year-old had just started work with stock and station company Gippsland and Northern.
He told the Campaspe News that joining the fire brigade was one of the few “outside of work’’ options available to men looking for comradeship outside of their professional career.
Fast forward to 2023 and an emotional octogenarian stood in front of Rochester Fire Brigade firefighters to announce he was retiring from active duty — but by no means from the brigade.
Reminiscing on his seven-decade career, just days after announcing an end to his time on the back of the truck, John said it had been far easier to join the brigade than it had been to surrender his place on the back of the truck alongside his firefighting colleagues.
“It is easy to get into the fire brigade, but it is bloody hard to get out,” he said.
Things have come a long way from the time when the volunteer driving the fire truck had the water pump sitting right alongside him, a bell attached to an A-frame on the ladder ringing in his ear and no seat belts for those on the back of the truck.
John Clark was born in Melbourne, and lived all over Victoria as his father took up various roles with the railways.
Born in 1940 and rising 84 — in January next year — John said his decision to “give it away’’ had come with the realisation that he was finding it easier to find a gap in the fence than climb over it.
He was, by far, the oldest active member of the brigade, 80-year-old Vaughan Thomas a “spring chicken’’ in comparison.
Both men, however, have been immortalised by the brigade and — long after they are gone — will be remembered through the naming of two tankers in their honour.
“Clarkey’’ is emblazoned on the side of one tanker and only inches away in the cramped space of the Mackay St station is the truck named VT, in honour of Vaughan Thomas.
They are the two oldest members of the brigade and one accepted a 60-year badge at the same time as the other notched up 65 years of service.
John Clark joined the Tongala rural birgade in 1956, just after he had left high school and started working at the Tongala saleyards for stock and station company Gippsland and Northern.
He transferred with that company to Rochester after 13 years at Tongala and eventually took over from then manager of the company Jo Keech.
His business prowess landed him in real estate with the same company before he started his own real estate company and eventually retired 25 years ago.
Retirement certainly didn’t mean a rocking chair on the porch and regular trips with the caravan attached to the back of a four-wheel drive.
His commitment to the fire brigade was only enhanced by his extra “free time’’ and became one of the three passions in his life — Family, fish and the fire brigade.
“They weren’t necessarily in that order according to my wife,” he said
But, apart from his grandfather, he had no significant pedigree in fire fighting.
“My grandfather was a member at Stawell and an accomplished tradesman. I still have a ladder and medals from his time in the brigade,” John said..
The father of three boys didn’t manage to pass his passion for the CFA on to any of his own progeny, in fact, all became accountants.
“Ian is at Albury, Bradley in Canberra and Craig Is the manager of the RSL in Cairns. Bradley had a go as a firefighter in Canberra, but it didn’t last,” John said.
All three grew up around the fire stations at Tongala and Rochester.
John remembers Tongala for not only his time holding on for dear life on the back of a Dodge truck as it sped toward a fire event of some description, the dairy farming town was where he met his wife — Carmel.
They celebrated 60 years of marriage on May 10 last year.
She was a Stanhope-raised school teacher working at the Tongala school who caught his eye while walking along Mangan St in the heart of town.
“I was busy chasing cattle up the street when I first saw her,” he said.
Wife is originally from Stanhope Mullins.
John recalled the captain of the Tongala brigade at the time was a man named Martin Roberts and he met several long-time friends including Hec McConnell, Dave Roberts, George Kilpatrick and Adrian Kelly, the latter whose family had the hotel in Tongala at the time.
He became a lieutenant at Tongala before relocating with his work to Rochester, where the town had the unique situation of having both an urban brigade and rural brigade.
When the pair eventually combined he became interim chairman, using his obvious powers of diplomacy to link the two organisations.
“Having two brigades was quite common back then, but both operated out of same station and they eventually joined forces,” he said.
A portrait of John Clark with badge number 1244876 glistening beneath on a plaque alongside his national and Queen’s service medals will remain as a reminder of his service.
And the first name on the wall, alongside the current captain Luke Warren, as firefighters come out of the meeting room belongs to John Clark.
His service time has, however, become a point of conjecture and it took some debate for him to ensure full recognition of his tenure.
“When I started there was space for only 35 registered members on the attendance book, so we had to sign the back of the sheet,” John said.
“The brigade was quite popular, because there were no other service clubs or anything. It was one of the big things to do.
“When I shifted to Rochester I was due for the 12-year badge and the CFA told me (by their records) I hadn’t been there 12 years.
“I had to take the books to Shepparton because my name was on the back of the sheet. We had 41 members back then,” he said .
What followed was a series of awards, including a Gold Star from Victorian Urban Fire Brigade Association (for 20 years), a Queen’s Medal, life membership of Rochester Fire Brigade, a national medal that was introduced by then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and a “bar’’ to go alongside that medal.
Apart from a six-month stint John took off from the CFA to study accountancy for his real estate accreditation his service has been continuous.
“The funny thing is I still turned out for fires during that period and they still cut six months off my service.
“I probably could have stretched it to 70 years, but I was starting to feel more of a hindrance than a help,” he said.
He took the opportunity at the latest monthly meeting to announced his decision to step down from active service but will continue in a support role.
It brings to an end a career which has see him attend every major event in the state, and outside Victoria, with several strike teams assigned to battle events threatening homes, life and animals.
The renowned “hose man’’, who would occasionally be on the radio (until his hearing went), said comradeship was the main thing he loved about the CFA.
“It is like a big family,” he said.
He will never, however, forget the culture shock he received when he attended the car accidents that had become such a big part of his time at the Rochester brigade.
“Attending those became a big part of work. There is not a road leading to Rochester that I haven’t seen a fatality on,” he said.
While John has seen more than his fair share of tragedy, he said he had never had to pull anyone out of a house.
“I’ve certainly seen some interesting things though. There is just so much different now to when I started,” he said.
Last week John and Carmel, who were among the hundreds of people flooded out of their homes, were moving back into their home.
They have spent the last 11 months living in Echuca, another factor that led John down the track to retirement
He said he had felt a bit of mortality during that period.
Fittingly it was fire brigade volunteers that picked up the couple to evacuate them before flood waters engulfed the town.
After spending a week with their son at Albury they returned to find Rochester brigade members had removed their destroyed floor coverings.
“We were pretty lucky. My son-in-law and half a dozen of his mates came and helped us get everything out.
“And the RACV has been very good to us,” he said.
John said the future of the CFA was in good hands, saying there were “quite a lot of young people’’ becoming members, along with a new breed that he had embraced into the fold.
“Women weren’t heard of in fire brigades back when I started. We now have a female lieutenant and secretary, along with three or four active volunteers.
“They are playing a big part in the bridge,” he said.
He did say that a major problem facing the Rochester brigade was that a lot of members had to live out of town due to work.
“Most members used to run up to the fire station when the siren sounded. They could respond straight away.
“It is a bit tougher now, because of the limited working opportunities in the town,” he said.
John said his retirement was by no means a goodbye and he would continue to “come and eat I am renowned for at the fire station”.
Apart from one other Victorian member, at least that he is aware of, John said he considered his retirement from active service at 83 to be among the oldest in the state — maybe even wider.
“There are not too many that have gone that long,” he said.
For now, however, there will be only one Clarky leaving the fire shed when the siren sounds.
And it will not be the 83-year-old version, it will in fact, be a modern and immaculately maintained red fire tanker with volunteers safely tucked away on the back — nothing like it was when John Clark first responded to a Tongala grass fire back in the 1950s.
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