2025 Brigade Community Christmas party – a milestone event
Sunday 14 December from 1.00 pm.
RSVP here by Fri 5 Dec
We’d love to see you at our brigade’s Annual Community Christmas party. This year it’s a lunch! We have checked, and Santa is fine with the change.
All members and other residents of the brigade area are warmly invited to come along. Please invite new neighbours if you have them.
For newcomers to the area, our Christmas party is an opportunity to gather in a friendly atmosphere, meet your new neighbours and get to know the men and women who will be there for you in an emergency.
As usual, we ask everyone to bring a generous plate of salad and/or dessert commensurate with the size of your group, and your own alcoholic drinks. The brigade will provide everything else: meats, hot and cold drinks and accompaniments (condiments, plates, cutlery, cups, sugar, milk, ice)
So why is it a milestone?
This year’s party marks the 20th anniversary of both the party and our fireshed. While perhaps only a dry historic fact for our newer members, the advent of this physical focal point for our brigade is a living experience for many of our long-term members and marked the start of profound changes for our brigade that current members may take for granted.
The trigger for the shed was the 2003 Canberra fires. Following them, it took two years to bring the shed to fruition, a seeming interminability at the time, but really not very long at all.
Back in 2005, members had rushed to put the finishing touches to the shed in the days leading up to the Christmas party. Although it was an event to christen the new building, no-one expected what providence dished up on the day – a drenching summer thunderstorm an hour before the party began that saw the entire shed flooded with water gushing in under the back wall. Within minutes, the newly-painted floor was completely awash, and those who had come early to set up spent the next hour with mops and brooms, paradoxically rescuing the fireshed from flood – a scene replicated at the 2023 AGM!
Apart from this unexpected activity, the festivities of the day weren’t those we enjoy today, either, being more like a training night sausage sizzle with a turnout of 20–25 people.
The advent of the shed made it possible to bring brigade members together in one place, and brought about many changes in our brigade.
Read more:
Our Fireshed – how it changed us
Birth of the Brigade Christmas Party
Fire season now in force
The fire danger period extends from 1 October to 31 March each year. These dates may vary depending on local conditions. In our region, the dates are determined by a committee comprising representatives from a range of groups, including rural fire brigades.
During the fire season, in addition to notifying your neighbours and the RFS at least 24 hours earlier, you must obtain a permit before you light a fire in the open.
You don’t need a permit for recreational fires such as camp fires, BBQs, pizza ovens.
Our captain would also appreciate a phone call on (02) 6100 6252 on the morning of your fire.
If you plan an agricultural burn, there are restrictions on what days you can start your burn.
On a Total Fire Ban (toban) day, you must not light a fire, even if you have a permit, or undertake any activity that could start a fire. There are also restrictions on the use of pizza ovens and electric and gas barbecues.
For more information, including full details of your responsibilities – and the heavy penalties that may apply if you disregard them – there’s a link on the right to Lighting Fires – Permits.
Keep track of local conditions and check Fire Danger ratings daily. There’s a link to the fire danger ratings on the right, as well as a local 4-day weather forecast.
Articles of interest:
Preparing a fire plan > Can our trucks fit through your gate and under your trees?
Our brigade’s fire-fighting fleet
Updated 1 Oct 2025