The Hunter River Times

BY MEREDITH BLAIR

The long-awaited Muswellbrook Fire Station has opened its doors, boasting a range of top facilities for our hardworking firefighters.

The Fire Station is Muswellbrook’s fourth station, a far cry from the brigade’s first 1894 ‘station’, where their equipment was housed in a galvanised iron shed at the rear of M.Campbell and Co.’s general store located at the corner of Bridge and Brook Streets.

The search for the site for Muswellbrook’s fourth station began in 2019, with the land, just 130m down the road from the previous station on Market Street, being acquired in 2020.

The Brigade moved in on September 6 this year with the official opening occurring on October 6.

Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib joined to celebrate the opening of the new fire station delivering an address for attendees.

“The opening of this new station was a major priority in terms of giving the local community the resources it needed,” Minister Dib said.

“We want people to feel safe at home as they go about their everyday lives, so to have a new fire station that has state-of-the-art amenities and helps firefighters quickly respond to any type of emergency will be a major boost for the area.”

Fire and Rescue NSW Acting Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell was also in attendance to celebrate the opening.

“With the original fire station built more than 40 years ago, it is understandable that the facility was in need of a makeover,” Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said.

“With the new station at Muswellbrook providing coverage for a large geographical area, it was paramount that we had the type of building that could safeguard the community and provide peace of mind for local residents.”

Muswellbrook Mayor Steve Reynolds was also in attendance, excited for the opening of this new resource for the community.

“It’s fantastic and this has been well needed for the firefighters of our area for some time and the commitment was there, now it’s been delivered, so it’s a great moment for the guys who have been involved in it,” Mayor Steve Reynolds told The Hunter River Times.

The new fire station is home to a watch room, station commander office, duty commander office, triple engine bays, uniform PPE store, training room, mess, fitness room and both male and female locker rooms.

The female locker rooms were a particular focus at the opening, highlighted that in the previous Muswellbrook fire stations, facilities for female firefighters would have been limited or non-existent.

“It’s great to see a facility like this where our firefighters can have the best equipment and of course make sure that we’ve got facilities here for not only male firefighters, but also female firefighters and we need to engage more female firefighters into our workforce throughout the Upper Hunter,” Member for the Upper Hunter Dave Layzell told The Hunter River Times.