The combined fire unit consisted of a farmer truck for Carrum Downs while Skye was the proud possessor of a trailer, which was fitted with a tank and a hand operated low down pump, both store in a shed at Carrum Downs
On the report of a fire the trailer would be picked up from the last user or the storage shed and towed to the fire by either David Kalwig’s Land Rover or on the linkage of Jim Pollocks’s tractor. 



After some time the new Lyndhurst South residents purchased the 2 blocks on the eastern corner of Potts Road and Ballarto Rd, and bought an ex-Army Nissan Hut and relocated this to the site for the use of the community, as a public hall. The hut was in great demand for differing community groups.  The Fire Brigade, the Progress Association, School Mothers Club.  In 1940’s the teacher of Skye Primary use to walk the children across the road for their Christmas breakup to Shades paddock, which is the site of the current Fire Station.

In 1950 local’s decided to call a Public meeting with the purpose of forming a Fire Brigade for the area. This was held in the Public Hall and approximately 21 persons attended. It was decided at the meeting to form a Brigade, and an application was forwarded to the Country Fire Authority on the 22nd of October. The list of Officer’s and members was approved by Chief Officer C A Daw on the 1st of November, but only to take effect when the Brigade was registered. On the 2nd of November a letter from the Authority Secretary GG Sinclair confirmed that the following members were appointed as the first Officers of the Lyndhurst South Brigade:

Captain: W G Gay

First Lieutenant: W D Harding
Second Lieutenant: A F Leak

Third Lieutenant: H N Reynolds

Foreman: J T Pollock

Apparatus Officer: W A Leak

Secretary: J W Long

 

Finally the Certificate of Registration , certifying that the Lyndhurst South Rural Fire Brigade was registered by the Authority on the 12th of November 1951, as a Rural Fire Brigade Class B in the Eight Fire Control Region, signed by R W Fichham, Chairman of the Country Fire Authority. Fireman of the new Brigade did not have to wait long to be “blooded”.  Late in 1951 the Pines Plantation went up, and in 1952 the School on the opposite side of the road to the Fire Station was burnt to the ground. By this time Skye had a pump motor fitted to the trailer unit, which was a definite improvement, but still not capable of handling the problem of a growing district.

At the Tottenham Government Auction held on the other side of Melbourne, a twin cab ex PMG Dodge truck was available at the right price. Norm Pinchem had the Brigade approval for finance, so caught the train to Tottenham and successfully bid for the unit. So from the auction Norm drove the vehicle to Skye with no Registration no insurance, no breakdowns and fortunately no involvement with the Police! This second vehicle gave the Brigade a tremendous boost, not only in enthusiasm, but also a increased membership. After the Brigade had fitted out the Dodge by themselves, the appliance was kept at Bill Reynolds place in Potts Road.
 

On the 23rd of January 1968 at a Brigade meeting a motion was past that the Brigade constructs a brick building of two truck frontage for the Skye Station. The CFA had agreed to buy Lot 8 Warrenlea Estates Ballarto Rd,  but there was unlikely to be any building assistance. By January 1969, bricks for the new station are now on site but will need cleaning.  Brigade member had been expected to visit building sites anywhere in Victoria, and gather any leftover bricks, that could be stored until needed. The council approval for construction of the Fire Station was refused by the Cranbourne Shire, so when the CFA had given their approval the Brigade went to the Frankston City Council who gave the necessary permission, because they were a City could override Cranbourne who was only a Shire.
 

The Official opening of the Fire Station was the 14th of December 1969, and it was opened by Chief Officer Pitfield. The first meeting of the Brigade in the new Station was the 3rd of November 1969. 
 

Early in the 1970’s the Brigade was requested to give up their Brigade owned Tanker. The CFA issued a 50’s split window Austin small town tanker.
 

1974 saw another Brigade owned vehicle acquired, from Government Auctions.  This vehicle was and Ports and Harbour Fire Services twin cab Landover Fire appliance.  This vehicle was deemed too slow and sold five years later to become a camper. In 1974 the Split Window Austin was replaced by a more up to date Austin, and then in 1980 it was replaced by a Leyland Small Town tanker from Carrum Downs. 1982 saw a change again in the form of a International D1410 4x4 small town tanker from Mt Eliza, which had served in the Ash Wednesday fire in 1983. This vehicle was replaced in 1994 by a new Isuzu 2.4D Tanker which beside a short holiday at Edithvale still remained in service at the Brigade.



Things within the Skye Fire Brigade ran fairly quiet for the next few years with not much activity or change to the Brigade, call rates started to increase slightly however it was business as usual.  Except for the issuing of our first pumper in the late 90’s the RO Colin COBB, this was soon taken of the Brigade and issued to another Brigade.

December 2001 saw the Skye Fire Brigade experience the tragedy of losing one of its members.  While responding to a call of a multi-vehicle accident Fire Fighter Darren Ridley lost his life in a car accident of his own.  This incident left a hole for a lot of the members, especially those who had the unfortunate job of attending Darren’s accident as emergency responders.  This incident was one that no-one wishes upon any Brigade or family and the Brigades thoughts and wishes go out to Darren’s family.

In 2002 the Brigade celebrated 50 years of service within our community.  With a dedicated organising committee’ the celebrations were a great success and enjoyed by many current and past members.

On 14 December 2003 the CFA Chief Officer deregistered the Skye Rural Fire Brigade and on the following day 15 December 2003 Skye Urban Fire Brigade was registered with CFA.  It was also at this time and the coming decade that the Brigade began to experience some significant changes within its primary responses and brigade facilities.
 

During 2004 with the support of the community, Langwarrin Rotary, Carrum Downs Bendigo Bank and the members fundraising efforts the Brigade purchased a 2wd Volkswagen Transporter.  This vehicle became the Brigades first Slip-on unit and although the vehicle type was questioned by some neighbouring Brigades, the Slip-on become a competent addition for Skye and served the Brigade well.

By 2005 the Brigade’s response area began to experience fairly significant growth of residential properties (37%) with numerous housing estates being developed in what was once grass and pasture land.

By 2007 the increase in population corresponded with a 36% increase in primary calls over the previous 4 years and the brigade was now experiencing in excess of 250 calls a year with 93% of this increase being in the Fire/Explosion category and namely structure related.  With the increase in residential properties and the Frankston councils predictions of a total residential growth rate of 78% by 2016, the Brigade began approaching CFA with a proposal for a second primary appliance, namely a Pumper.

In January 2008 as a result of much discussion and thought at Brigade and Region level Skye again became a 2 primary appliance brigade with the temporary introduction of a Type 2 Pumper (ex SETG).  Although tired and worn-out the Brigade made good use of the Pumper until its retirement from CFA. During the late half of 2008 action was requested from Region for the replacement of the SETG Pumper with the Brigade knowing that the Type 2 was to be retired from service by the end of 2008.  Region endeavoured to assist during this period and although the best laid plans did not come into fruition the Brigade found itself swapping Tankers with Edithvale in December 2008. This swap meant Skye acquired a larger Tanker in the way of a 3.2D which provided an extra 1000 litres of water, increased pumping capacity of 1200 litres per minute and A-Class foam, plus extra stowage capacity for salvage equipment.  Although this did not replace the need for a Pumper it did provide the Brigade with an appliance that had a broader capacity to meet the increasing risks associated with the growing population while Region further investigated vehicle options for Skye.

During this same period, discussions regarding the Brigades current facilities were held.  Although the Brigade had made some modifications to the station with the removal of the kitchen from the engine bay into the meeting room not much had happened to the facilities since the first brick was laid in 1969. The introduction of SETG’s Pumper sitting alongside the Tanker caused concerns regarding member safety due to the close proximity of members getting dressed next to the appliances when responding to calls.  To add to this concern was the location of the toilets at the rear of the engine bay. A further proposal and discussions with CFA bought about one of the major changes to the Brigade facilities since the station was built.  With financial assistance from Region the Brigade began its building project at the end of 2008 to expand its meeting room and office facilities. 

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Come mid 2009 the Brigade was promised a permanent Pumper by Region and it was just a case of when and not if.  The Brigade was also advised that Mt Martha’s old Type 2 Pumper would be placed into service at Skye once Mt Martha’s replacement Pumper had arrived from Mortlake Fire Brigade. With the arrival of Christmas 2009 also came Mt Martha’s Type 2 Pumper.  Although 24 years old the Pumper had served Mt Martha well and was well looked after.  So with some extra training the Type 2 was placed on-line at the end of December 2009.  This found the Brigade back to 2 Primary appliances and a Slip-on.



During the February 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, Skye sent a full rotation of its members to help in the Kinglake and Gippsland areas. Back home, members were also kept very busy, with many support requests coming in the local area. 

Activities for 2010 were generally quiet; calls were down due to a quiet summer, we had make tankers 10 on Taylors Road but all-in-all a quiet year for calls which was pleasant compared to the previous summer and tragedies of February 2009.  March saw council approval finally given for works to start on the building project.  The Volkswagen Slip-on was retired after 5 years of service and the new Slip-on, a dual cab 4WD Ford Ranger was placed into service.  Members also started to receive the new structural PPC which was now being issued by CFA. On the 13th September 2010, the Skye Fire Brigade with the assistance from Region, announced the completion of the building project.  The Brigade now had the addition of a purpose built meeting room and offices and separate toilet facilities and the rear yard was asphalted providing suitable housing conditions for the Slip-on.  The original station then undertook some modifications: the original meeting room was fitted-out with lockers to become a turnout room housing the turnout uniforms for the firefighters and the engine bay became just that, with the removal of the old toilets and turn-out PPC leaving plenty of space for the current Tanker and Pumper and their future replacements. The summer of 2010/11 was again a quiet time for calls with a very wet weather pattern replacing the usual dry and windy summer.  



A new Light Pumper was delivered the Brigade in March 2011, and the general conscience from members was very positive and all appeared happy with the new truck and appreciative that the work and promises of the past 10+ years have come to fruition.

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2012 was a reasonable quiet year for the Brigade, with a only a total of 217 calls for this year, but this was to change with the Fire Season 2012/13.  With this been the driest summer in nearly 30 years, the Brigade was called upon to assisting in a number of Strike teams. Brigade members were deployed to Heyfield, Pakenham, Licola as well as fires in the local area, in Seaford and Flora and Fauna Reserve.  One member of the Brigade was also deployed to New South Wales.