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Kevin Fletcher was one of Australia’s highest decorated firefighters receiving many medals throughout his career including the Star of Courage, the National Medal, Conspicuous Bravery Medal, the Bravery Medal, and the Bronze Medal from the Royal Humane Society, all on display at the Museum. Fletcher is said to have been a humble man, stating on numerous occasions that there were plenty of other firefighters that deserved recognition as much as he did. Kevin Fletcher joined th

The Black Saturday Bushfires of 2009 remain one of the most devastating emergency incidents in Australian history. A number of large bushfires across the state of Victoria caused devastation to communities and wildlife, with emergency services from across the country providing aid both during and after the event. Lives, houses, whole towns, and wildlife were lost in the tragedy, however, the strong Australian camaraderie, mateship and resilience never wavered. Australia had b

This week marks thirty years since what has become known as the 1994 Eastern Seaboard Fires. At the time these were the most ferocious fires NSW had seen in approximately 20 years. Please note that the terminology used in this brief recap of the 1994 bushfire emergency is reflective of the vernacular used at the time of the incident. In some places modern language has been adapted, however for the most part the terms use reflects what was colloquial in 1994. Fire in Bungoona

On the 20 November 1973 at 3:42pm, control received the call to a fire which had engulfed the multistorey Woolworths located at Warringah Mall in Brookvale in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Dee Why was the first to respond on site with Manly’s motor and ladder unit closely following by and arriving as the second on scene. The severity of the blaze was not to be underestimated and the building was tremendously consumed by the fire with the unfortunate situation of two women trappe

Howards Department Store (later renamed Mates Department Store) had a rough year in 1973, with two fires causing considerable damage. Howards Department Store Suffers $50K in Damages, April 1973 The first fire occurred on 11 April 1973 when a fire broke out in the basement of the store which housed electrical motors that provided the store’s refrigeration. The store employees attempted to extinguish the blaze before alerting the fire brigade at 5:40pm. The fire quickly spread

For this week’s blog we are taking a quick trip into the Museum’s Library to see what was making the headlines in “Fire News”, the official publication of the New South Wales Fire Brigades, NSWFB (now Fire and Rescue NSW, FRNSW). The year began, as they often do in New South Wales (NSW) with bushfires dominating in media reports. The most publicised was the 2003 Canberra bushfires which impacted almost 70% of the natural pastures of Australia’s capital city territory. After b

30 years ago, on 27 December 1992 at 6:39pm fire crews were called to the Hampton Court Hotel at Kings Cross on Bayswater Road. The hotel had caught alight, beginning on the ground floor and was first noticed by staff working in the foyer office. The fire raged through the ground and first floor affecting the nightclub and bar present, with smoke damage affecting the upper residential levels of the hotel. The flames reached intense temperatures making it difficult for firefig

On 11 November 1972 at 10:53am, Newcastle fire station received a direct line telephone call from the nearby state dockyard. A suction hopper dredging vessel, the WDA Resolution, had caught ablaze whilst sitting in the harbour of the state dockyard. The vessel, built only earlier that year, was one of the largest produced dredging ships in Australia weighing over 5400 tons, measuring 116 metres in length and 18 metres wide. Suction dredges were used throughout the area to mai

50 years ago today, on 11 October 1972, a blaze broke out in the Woolworths Family Shopping Centre in Liverpool. The structure was relatively new, being only 6 years old and consisted of 3 levels and a basement carpark. It is believed that the fire started at around 5:15pm, where luckily enough there were minimal shoppers inside the building and as a result, the evacuation process was speedy, only taking 10 minutes to complete. The call to attend the fire was sent through f

Beginnings Turning back the clock, we begin in the 19th century with William Hamilton Brown born in Darlinghurst in 1897. Living most of his life in Wentworthville, which at this point in time, considered the westernmost fringe of the Sydney area. In 1914, Brown joined the 10th Australian Service Corps (ASC), which was a militia unit. Shortly after in 1916 at the bright young age of 18 and 2 months, Brown enlisted into the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) as a part of the A