THE Koriella Fire Brigade received delivery of a 1967 Austin fire truck last week, with the truck’s logbook showing it served in Koriella around 50 years ago. The truck, which runs but has a reasonable amount of wear and tear on the body and no connected brakes, will be restored by the brigade in the future and used for community displays. Koriella Fire Brigade Captain Scott Reeves was alerted about the sale of the truck by Sam Hicks, who suggested they jump on the opportunity. The truck still contained the old logbook, which is a rare scenario, and it showed that the tanker was issued to the Koriella Fire Brigade back in the day. “We’ve still got two members in the brigade who drove that vehicle,” Scott said. He organised the members of the brigade and they approved the purchasing of the 1967 tanker last Tuesday. Jason and Nadine from Monro Transport Services and Water Deliveries in Bendigo donated their time and fuel to deliver the tanker to Koriella last Wednesday. It was their son Matt who is in the CFA and was going to restore the tanker before deciding to sell the truck. “The aim of the brigade is to restore it back to its original condition or close to,” Scott said. “It won't go on the fire ground again; it's too old and it's two-wheel drive. “We’ll have ex-members of the brigade and community members of Fawcett and Koriella helping us to raise funds to restore it and then make it available for parties, weddings and anything. The Austin truck brings a great deal of historical value for a small brigade like Koriella and a positive community boost in the aftermath of the January fires. “I think we worked out, there’s 100 years of tankers sitting in the shed now,” Scott said. “We want to try and use it as a thing for the brigade, the boys and the girls to get onto that to upgrade it and have also the community involved with it so it's like a little community asset.” Scott added that they will be able to use the logbook and discussion with the community to work out the 1967 Austin tanker’s history to some extent. “We still have people around the area that would have been on the back of it,” he said. “And the logbook tells us their names as well. “So the logbook's just an absolute goldmine. “It tells us about where it [the Austin tanker] went and what fires it went to while we had it. “And then we believe it was cascaded to the Upton Fire Brigade in 1987, so they might be interested in hearing a bit about its history as well.” To keep up to date with progress on the restoration of the 1967 Austin tanker or what is happening at the Koriella CFA Brigade, visit their Facebook page at Koriella Fire Brigade.
