The ACT Rural Fire Service is the volunteer firefighting branch of the Australian Capital Territory Emergency Services Agency (ESA). It is responsible for the prevention, detection and extinguishment of all bushfires within the ACT, as well as assisting the other branches of ESA.
History See also Bushfires in the Australian Capital Territory
Early history There are very few records regarding bushfires in the Australian Capital Territory (then known as the Limestone Plains) from the early 1800s to the first quarter of the twentieth century.
In December 1903 two bush fire brigades were formed: The Limestone Plains Brigade and The "Majura Corps".
Canberra Bush Fires Prevention Committee The Canberra Bush Fires Prevention Committee was formed around 1905, made up of landowners in the local area.from The Age (Queanbeyan) Tuesday 17 January 1905
First Brigades Sometime after Limestone Plains Brigade and the "Majura Corps" formed, the Weetangara Fire Brigade was also formed. Again the Queanbeyan Age from Tuesday 18 January 1910 reports "The Weetangara Fire Brigade burnt several firebreaks around the various holdings before Christmas. Mr. Crace kindly lent his fire-fighter for the purpose."
Federal Territory Bushfire Association On 28 October 1915, the Federal Territory Bush Fire Association was formed. The purpose of the Association was"the organised assistance of all concerned, and the co-ordination of effort in
(a) the prevention of bush or grass fires in the territory and adjoining country;
(b) the adoption of necessary measures for combating any outbreak of bush or grass fire in the territory and the adjoining country."On 8 November 1927 the Lands Department of the Federal Capital Commission set up the Bush Fire Organisation to deal with bushfires for the upcoming summer. For the first time the organization would supply Fire fighting equipment such as water carts, fire beaters and rakes as well as establishing depots for fire-fighting appliances at the homes or camps of certain rangers in Canberra. On Monday 14 November 1927 the Bush Fire Control Organization had its inaugural meeting. The Chief Fire Controller was Mr M. R. Jacobs (Chief Forester). The organization set up fire depots at MacDonald's Camp near Weetangera, Weavers' Property near Stromlo, Maxwells' Property at The Rivers, Gregorys' Property at Kambah and Horans' Property near the Yarralumla. The equipment at these depots included fire carts, beaters, rakes & axes, with horses for the fire carts being supplied by various Rural Lessees.
In 1932 the Gundaroo Volunteer Bushfire Brigade was formed, closely followed by the Wallaroo Bush Fire Brigade in 1940. Today, both these brigades are part of the NSW Rural Fire Service.
ACT Bush Fire Council The severe bushfires which caused widespread damage in the Australian Capital Territory in January 1939 was the subject of enquiry by a Bush Fire Committee appointed by the Minister of State for the Interior, the Honorable J. McEwen, M.P.; among the recommendations was one favouring the appointment of a permanent Bush Fire Council to organise the prevention and suppression of bushfires in the ACT. The ACT Bushfire Council is the direct predecessor of the current ACT All Hazards Advisory Council.
The Careless Use of the A.C.T. Fire Ordinance 1936–37, was amended in 1940 to provide for the formation of a Bush Fire Council. From the 1940s a greater emphasis on planned burning was introduced in the ACT as a means of reducing the potential for severe bushfires. Additionally, the first two Bushfire Districts were declared –
At the close of 1944 four official bushfire brigades were operating in the ACT.ACT Bush Fire Council Annual Report – 1943/44 The Brigades were;
Mulligan's Flat, Weetangera, Tuggeranong, and Hall
Only Hall is still in existence by name as of 2025.
The year 1951 saw the formation of two new brigades. The first meeting of the Tidbinbilla Bush Fire Brigade was 25 February 1951, before bring formally recognised by the Bushfire Council in September of the same year. Additionally, a brigade was created within the Parks and Gardens Section of the Department of the Interior.ACT Bush Fire Council Annual Report – 1950/51
Post-War Years After the disastrous bushfires of 1951/52 and following representations by the Bush Fire Council in mid-1952, a number of additional volunteer Bush Fire Brigades were formed. These were
Woden Bush Fire Brigade – formed 16 July 1952 Majura Bush Fire Brigade – formed 11 December 1956 Naas Bush Fire Brigade – formed November 1966
Volunteer Bushfire Brigades Association The inaugural meeting of the Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades Association was held on 22 November 1984. Its original objectives/roles were: To act as a focal point for issues affecting all volunteer bushfire fighters in the A.C.T. (there were some 828 members on the various Brigades' books at the time). Speak on behalf of all A.C.T. volunteer bushfire fighters. Lobby politicians, bureaucrats & national/local organisations on issues relating to A.C.T. volunteer bushfire fighters. Provide a forum for discussing improvements to fire management in the A.C.T. Put forward a joint and considered view to the Emergency Management Group and A.C.T. Government officials on equipment, training, planning and safety issues affecting A.C.T. volunteer bushfire fighters. Publicise issues on behalf of A.C.T. volunteer bushfire fighters where and when necessary. Organise public events (Field Days) to make the community more aware of the work done by volunteer bushfire fighters. Provide an Avenue for transmission of practical suggestions from the people who actually put out a high percentage of the rural fires in the A.C.T.After the 1979 Black Tuesday fires, the Hall Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade was re-formed after a period of inactivity, with 14 members at the time.
In 1986, after severe fires in the Jerrabomberra area a public meeting was held in October, resulting in the formation of the Jerrabomberra Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade on 11 November 1986.
The Williamsdale Bush Fire Brigade was split into two during 1988, with half forming Guises Creek Volunteer Bushfire Brigade and the other half becoming part of the NSW Rural Fire Service as Williamsdale Bush Fire Brigade.
The final brigade to be formed by the ACT Bush Fire Council was in October, 1989 when the Rivers Volunteer Bushfire Brigade was established to cover the area previously covered by the Fairlight-The Rivers Brigade.
Emergency Services Bureau Era Until around 1990 Rural Fire Brigades had been manned by landholders, their families and their employees. This system had worked well enough up to a stage with landholders attending fires, for the most part close to home. But with the growth of urban Canberra, Rivers Brigade made the decision to recruit members from suburbs lying close to the brigade's area. Many young people volunteered and the system has worked well, but with a high turn-over of members, but a consistent nucleus of dedicated members have stayed.
The ACT Emergency services went through a major restructure in November 1996, where several brigades and units from other emergency services were relocated, and Molonglo and Gungahlin brigades were established and the ACT Bush Fire Council was renamed ACT Bush Fire Brigades, being brought under the umbrella of the newly created ACT Emergency Services Bureau, alongside the ACT State Emergency Service, ACT Fire and Rescue and ACT Ambulance Service.
The restructure was achieved at the Rivers, Guises Creek, Jerrabomberra and Headquarters Brigades by building additional shed space as required to accommodate Australian Capital Territory Emergency Service (ACT SES) equipment. No Australian Capital Territory Emergency Service volunteers were moved to the Southern Districts or Tidbinbilla Volunteer Bushfire Brigades.
The new Gungahlin Brigade was located in rented warehouse space in the industrial area of Mitchell until completion of the new Joint Emergency Services Centre at Gungahlin Town Centre.
Post-2003 – Formation of the ACT Rural Fire Service Partly as a result of the McLeod enquiry after the 2003 Fires, the service was renamed the ACT Rural Fire Service and brought under the umbrella of the ACT Emergency Services Agency. The ACT RFS has undertaken a major modernization program since 2003 after the McLeod enquiry, including the building new fire sheds, buying new appliances, recruiting more firefighters, upskilling current firefighters, maintaining and improving the Remote Area Fire Teams capabilities and taking part in research around bushfires, particularly in the use of Compressed air foam system.History of bush fires in the ACT – notably: 1919–20, 1925–26, 1938–39, 1951–52, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1984–85, 2001–02, 2002–2003 (see 2003 Canberra bushfires), etc.
The same report and fires also lead to the Emergencies Act 2004, which continued and clarified the role of the extant ACT Bush Fire Council. In 2021, this council was renamed the ACT Multi Hazard Advisory Council.
Rural Fire Brigades Brigades form the functional organisational unit of the ACT Rural Fire Service. Each member of the RFS is a member of their individual brigade. Each brigade is responsible for the organisation of its membership, running "brigade based" training and ensuring availability for incidents.
Each brigade has a captain, who is the overall leader of the brigade, and a number of deputy captains who work as the Captains delegate, lead the brigade in most activities, and generally should undertake frontline command and control responsibilities. These roles are generally elected by secret ballot at an individual Brigades Annual General Meeting. To support the operational functions and capability, brigades will also elect a number of Administrative positions who form the executive committee.
A Brigades Executive Committees administer the assets and facilities of the Brigade and is made up of members who have no incident or brigade command and control responsibilities.
Current Brigades The ACT RFS has nine RFS Brigades are generally focused on the western areas of the ACT as most fires come with winds from the Brindabella Ranges of the Namadgi National Park and Kosciuszko National Park to the west of the ACT.
Gungahlin Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade +Gungahlin BrigadeCallsignGUNLocationBuilding 3, 9 Sandford Street, Mitchell ACT 2911Heavy Tankers2Medium Tankers2Light TankersOther UnitsCommand, Pumps Trailer Gungahlin brigade is based in Mitchell, having been previously based at the Gungahlin Joint Emergency Services Complex (JESC) located in the central business area of the most northern town centre in the ACT. The Gungahlin Volunteer Bushfire & Emergency Service Brigade commenced operations on Sunday 9 February 1997. The bushfire component of the brigade initially drew its membership for the Hall and Jerrabomberra Volunteer Brigades. The initial membership consisted of 15 members and the brigade was resourced with: Heavy Tanker (single cabin Isuzu), 1 Light Unit (Toyota Land Cruiser) and 1 Command Vehicle (Toyota Hilux)
The brigade was initially stationed at Mitchell (corner of Heffernan St and Winchcombe Ct). The brigade was relocated to the Gungahlin Joint Emergency Services Centre (JESC) in 1998. The Brigade were heavily involved in the 2001 Christmas fires and were the first (and only for the first 1.5 hours) bushfire units on scene at the Bruce Ridge fire as it spread from near the CIT and encircled the Lyneham Caravan Park. Gungahlin Brigade was heavily involved in operations in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and Tidbinbilla Valley during the 2003 Canberra bushfires on 17 January 2003 and in the Uriarra Settlement and Weston Creek area on 18 January 2003. The brigade was able to provide crews for at least one shift for 17 days straight during this campaign event.