Colin Brown, who now volunteers for the Warrandyte Fire Brigade, officially began his journey with the CFA in 1971 and has since offered crucial support in major emergency incidents such as the Black Saturday fires in 2009 and the 2019 Cambarville fires.
In 1989, following a few years of absence from the CFA due to his army service, Mr Brown became a member of the Hilldene Fire Brigade, which later led to his role at the Seymour station.
Mr Brown, who over the years, found himself serving communities in most parts of regional Victoria, said his time in Seymour was memorable.
“It was a great area to work in,” he said.
“It was a nice country environment ... I found it quite rewarding working in Seymour.”
Mr Brown’s years of dedication have led to a number of significant changes, including modifications to improve the effectiveness of several incident control centres across the state and the development of the Your Emergency Services program for the Yarra Ranges.
Mr Brown also led a movement to expand diversity across the CFA, which he said was an important step in breaking down the recurring “alpha male” rhetoric of the institution.
“I conducted two air observer courses which had a couple of ladies on it and I got the first female qualified as an air observer in the CFA,” he said.
“I did a lot of training with the same person and got her qualified as a fire investigator.
“I really believe in diversity, because when you come into an incident control centre, you’ve got all of the alpha males there ... I actually prefer to work with women over the males most of the time.”
Mr Brown’s long years of dedication to the CFA begs the question of why, despite the undeniable toll, did he devote so much of his time to the service?
He said he found his purpose in the CFA soon after getting involved.
“When I first joined, it was just for something to do,” Mr Brown said.
“But then I got involved and I realised it was actually about supporting the community and it was that feeling of achieving things.
“When you go out there and you either help someone at a house fire or get control of a burn that’s gone a bit out of control, you feel like you’re achieving something.
“When you see communities that get hit by fires, you realise exactly why you do it and you continue to volunteer.”
On Saturday, June 8, Mr Brown was announced as a recipient of the Australian Fire Services Medal, which recognises distinguished service by a member of an Australian fire service.
He is among 830 Australians on the King’s Birthday honours list.
Mr Brown said he was “taken aback” when he received the phone call.
“I was quite honoured, to be honest, because I always felt like there’s other people doing a far better role,” he said.
“I feel very privileged to be in the same group as previous award winners.
“I feel very honoured, but I’ll still continue to do my role, at least as long as I’m physically fit to do it.
“You don’t do it for the medals, though, because otherwise you wouldn’t be doing it.”
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