Thursday, 19 October 2023

Country Fire Authority Rye brigade

Sam GROTH (Nepean) (09:40): I was delighted to join Rye CFA recently to celebrate their 75th anniversary and brigade dinner honouring some of our local heroes. After 20 years of service to the Rye CFA and local community, ex-captain Glenn Diamond was awarded the prestigious Rye fire brigade Life Membership Medal. Glenn’s commitment to our local community is nothing short of inspirational. I want to thank him for his work over the last two decades with the Rye CFA.

Owen Yanner and Drew Cole won the award for the most determined improvement throughout the year, while Lieutenant Tim Griffiths and Lieutenant Locky Yanner were joint runner-up firefighters of the year. All these individuals represent the future leaders of our local community and fire brigade. However, the two major awards of the night, the Hec McMillan Award for firefighter of the year and the Captain David McKenzie Award, were awarded first of all to my good friend – and I want to congratulate him – Lieutenant Rob Thompson, who was the firefighter of the year. Rob is a pillar of our local community, and we are proud to see him recognised in this way. I also want to congratulate Rye CFA’s immediate past brigade president Bob O’Toole for receiving the captain’s award. Bob has been a mentor and a friend to many. We want to thank him for his service, and once again that has been duly recognised. I want to thank all the members of Rye CFA, all the members of CFA right across Nepean and the broader Mornington Peninsula and CFA members right across the state. They volunteer, they give service to all of our communities, and we wish them the best as we head towards this year’s fire season.