Meet Stuart McCombe, Wollert Fire Brigade
Stuart McCombe is the Community Safety Coordinator at the Wollert Fire Brigade.
He’s been a member for over a decade and has seen firsthand how the brigade contributes to the local community, and communities around Victoria and interstate.
Over the last 11 years firefighters from the brigade have been involved in numerous significant event emergency responses such as:
February 2014 Mickleham-Kilmore fire
October 2015 Lancefield bushfire
December 2018 Little River bushfire
March 2019 Bunyip State Park bushfire
2019 – 2020 Black Summer fires (November 2019 NSW and Gippsland)
October 2022 Victorian floods (Rochester and Echuca)
2025 – 2026 Grampians National Park bushfire
In 2024 the Brigade was a recipient of a Peppercorn Hill Community Fund grant, with the money going towards new cabinetry at the station.
Q: How does the Wollert Fire Brigade work with the community?
Wollert Fire Brigade is a 100% volunteer fire brigade founded in 1942 and made up of people from our community who are passionate about supporting our community in their time of need.
We for fill the Country Fire Authority mission of protecting lives and property through:
i) fire prevention and preparedness activities, and
ii) responding to fire and other emergencies
We are a dedicated and skilled team, performing roles beyond fire suppression which include educating and engaging our community, helping residents develop fire plans and responding to other emergencies when they happen.
Q: How have you been involved?
I joined Wollert Fire Brigade in 2014 as a volunteer firefighter and during my 11 years with the brigade I have held positions secretary (3 years 2015 to 2018), treasurer (3 years 2015 to 2018) and my current role of community safety coordinator (3 years 2022 to present).
Since 2017 I have been heavily involved in the community engagement activities of the brigade particularly focusing on our social media presence between 2017 and 2022.
Q: What are some changes you’ve seen?
Since the 2011 Australian census Wollert Fire Brigade has experienced a significant risk change from a 100% rural environment with a small amount of industrial activity to our current position of a significant urban population with a large rural footprint and increasing industrial risk.
The population we protect has grown from just 610 people in 2011 to now exceeding 35,000 people across 14,000 dwellings.
We have successfully been able to continually grow and develop to meet our communities ever growing needs.
Q: What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
We are expecting the demand for our services both in emergency response and community education to continue to break activity records.
Our famous mango sale will be back again in September offering delicious trays reasonably priced fresh mangoes straight from the farm in Northern Queensland.
We have a few other big things in planning at the moment but we can’t share right now so I guess it is a matter of watching this space for announcements when we are ready to share any updates.
Q: Do you have one or two highlights from 2025 so far?
The last 12 months have been our busiest ever with a record 319 emergency call outs (including deployments to the Grampians National Park fires). A very busy year out in the community sharing fire safety messages and helping build our community spirit.
Q: How did you spend the Community Fund grant from 2024?
The Community Fund grant has helped us install additional storage cabinetry at our fire station to store the increasing number of uniforms, operational equipment, community engagement equipment and materials that we require to support our rapidly growing community.
If you think you could lend a hand in responding to fire and other emergencies, please get in contact with them or visit their next community event.
Contact:
- Facebook: Wollert Fire Brigade
- Instagram: @wollertcfa