Captain Mick Power said since the town held crisis meetings three years ago, there had been a great turnaround. 

“We have an excellent crew at the moment, with all our firefighters bringing their own skills and experience to the team,” he said.

The team is preparing for a big few months with the opening of a new fire station and 80th birthday of the town’s brigade on the horizon.

“The official date is yet to be confirmed, but we are looking at late November to early December,” Captain Power said.

“Last year a new ‘rescue pump’ appliance was received just in time for the accreditation of the unit as Primary Rescue for the area,” he said.

With a crew of 14 retained firefighters on call around the clock, Murrurundi Fire and Rescue recently received a new ‘light tanker’ which provides off road access and additional firefighting capabilities.

Captain Mick Power said the brigade recieved an average of betweeen 30 to 40 calls a year.

“Apart from the obvious fire calls, we respond to a variety of situations,” he said.

“We offer assitance to other emmergency services with their response to incidents, retrieval and relocation od snakes from households and providing fire education to students at schools.”

The brigade also attends the homes of the elderly, disabled and those requesting assistance with Home Fire Safety Checks including smoke alarm checks, and attend motor vehicle accidents and rescue incidents.

“We want to remind people the phone number to dial in an emergency is 000.

“A useful APP for your smartphone is the “EMERGENCY +” app.

“This App provides you with GPS coordinates that can assist emergency services in locating you quickly in an emergency.”