Firefighters hopeful decades-old station will receive long-needed upgrades after shire vote

It could be the set-up for a bad joke — a fire station in need of upgrades because the foundations are crumbing with damp.

But for the Leschenault Bush Fire Brigade, it’s no laughing matter.

The brigade’s 40 year-old building is long past its best-before date, but firefighters are hopeful they will see the station upgraded after the Shire of Harvey endorsed a new funding plan at its most recent council meeting on February 27.

Leschenault Bush Fire Brigade captain Mick Papalia said the station had served its purpose, with the volunteer brigade now growing too big for the space.

“At the moment, we have about 50 members on the books, with 10 women on our list,” he said.

“There’s no separate changing rooms for the females however, and there’s not enough room for lockers for everybody.”

Over its four decades the station has undergone many changes, with the volunteers putting tireless work into the station’s upkeep.

“There’s lots of members that have been here for 20 to 25 years and have put a lot of time into building and maintaining the station,” Mr Papalia said.

Initially the station was no more than two truck bays and a toilet, but over the years it has expanded to include a meeting room, training room and kitchen.

Now, even the new bays are too small for the modern trucks and the kitchen is not up to standard.

Beyond all of this, the damp eating at the building’s foundation cannot be easily repaired.

“The rising damp alone is a massive job,” Mr Papalia said.

“In order to fix it, we’d have to rip up all the pathways around the building and install damp course, which is a lot of money to upgrade an old building.”

Last week, the council voted to endorse a two-year funding model, with hopes the Department of Fire and Emergency Services will be open to a self-supporting loan.

The council would apply to the Western Australian Treasury Corporation for a loan of between $1 million and $1.2m and DFES would service the loan over two years through the Local Government Grants Scheme.

The Shire of Harvey previously used self-supporting loans for the redevelopment of the Harvey Emergency Services facilities in 2014.

The council has been submitting applications for the project each year since 2021 through the scheme, but it will be the first time it is hoping to be involved with the self-supporting loan.

With the council endorsing the new plan, Mr Papalia said he was hopeful they may be successful in receiving funds.

Although with the building’s heritage and history, Mr Papalia said it would be a “bittersweet” moment if they did receive the much-needed upgrades.

The shire voted 10-1 in support of the endorsement for the new funding plan with only Cr Robyn Coleman voting against.