DEDICATED members of the Kooralbyn Fire and Rescue Service could be forgiven for crying poor after their station was once again overlooked in the recent major equipment handouts across Queensland.
The service, which was called into action almost 300 times during 2023, is operating with the oldest tender in the Scenic Rim command.
They are also the only station of the nine in the district that don’t have a stand alone generator that can power up their shed when the lights go out.
This means when there is no electricity in Kooralbyn most of the seven firefighters on their books need to be at the station to heave the large roller doors up by hand.
Their only generator is a small one that sits on the back of their tender which was built in 2005.
Kooralbyn was hoping that a tender that was promised three years ago was on its way, but now after the recent news Beaudesert’s $900,000 new tender was burnt out in a fire it may not even arrive this year.
Kooralbyn is a ‘one road in, one road out’ township which proved highly stressful for locals when they had major fires there in November 2023.
Area Commander for QFES Scenic Rim, Inspector Joe Pope, said he is aware of the concerns from the Kooralbyn station and is working with the region to acquire a new tender for them.
“That said, I’d love to put a new truck into every station when we need one, but it doesn’t work that way,” he said.
“I have put a good case forward for them, but the QFES decision-makers need to prioritize this against demands from other regions.”
Ten new vehicles, including seven water tankers and three medium rescue trucks were recently delivered to Fire and Rescue and Rural Fire Service stations across Queensland
This $7.43 million investment was part of a multi-year approach to fleet procurement across QFES.
