Highbury fire truck bid falls on deaf ears

The town of Highbury has been unsuccessful in its campaign for a dedicated fire truck, with Shire of Narrogin councillors last month rejecting calls to relocate one of the Shire’s trucks. Highbury’s chief fire control officer Philip Porter said the community had been trying for years to get a fire truck in the town. “It would just be great to have our own fire unit that can go to fires not only in our district, but out of town too,” he said. “It’s not just for Highbury alone — it’s for the whole area. “It’s a bit hard when we have to call up Narrogin and get those guys to come to our fires. It would be nice if we could stand on our own two feet with our own fire equipment rather than relying on big brother all the time. “We want to encourage people to come into Highbury and we want them to have the confidence that they’ve got protection if we do have a fire.” Mr Porter says Highbury’s need for a fire truck was only increasing. “There’s a few bigger farmers buying out the smaller farmers, so we haven’t got quite as many reliable fire units in the district,” he said. “We’ve still got the volunteers out here. The bigger guys have the bigger acres but they haven’t got the bigger fire trucks, and now with stubble fires and everything else we need something quite big to get to the fire.” Earlier this year, Shire chief executive Dale Stewart wrote to all fire control officers in the Shire for feedback on the relocation of one of the fire trucks. He received six responses — two in favour and four against the proposal. The concerns raised during were mainly about the number and ability of existing volunteers in Highbury. “The main reason it was denied was the feedback from the local fire brigade out there — there wasn’t enough support to know that it would be manned 24/7,” Shire president Leigh Ballard said. “That’s the biggest issue. Currently in Narrogin they’re manned all the time, and it’s not just about looking after Highbury, it’s about looking after the whole Shire, and going external if there are big fires. “It’s also having the volunteers able and trained to get on those trucks and go, and that’s where we didn’t get enough the support from the local brigade to know that was going to happen.” Mr Porter said it was a disappointing result. “It’s hard on those who have put so much time and effort into trying to get this to happen” he said. “We’re not going to give up though, we’ll get there.”