By Jessica Micallef
Bullengarook’s Ian Hay has been recognised for more than four decades as a volunteer firefighter with the CFA.
Ian was presented with the Australian Fire Service Medal last week as part of the Australia Day Honours List.
“It’s a great honour to receive the award and be nominated by my peers,” Ian said.
“It’s not something you aim for but I have been a firefighter for a long time.”
Ian joined the Bullengarook CFA in 1975 before he made the move to the Gisborne CFA.
“The fire brigade was the centre of the community, it was local and you helped one another, that’s why I joined,” Ian said.
“When I moved to the Gisborne CFA, it was to run urban competitions.”
Ian said the CFA was “a lot different today than what it used to be”.
“There is far more safety now, we have better equipment, our uniforms and our gears have also evolved.
“There is a lot more paperwork and there are police checks involved to become a volunteer firefighter.
“It’s [the CFA] has changed dramatically from when I started.”
Ian has been involved in many major fire events, including the devastating 1983 Ash Wednesday Fires, Black Saturday and the more recent Victoria New South Wales fires of last summer.
“Ash Wednesday was the one that scarred most people, certainly around here,” Ian said.
“It was a big fire in a big hurry and we were in its way. A lot of people ducked and the conditions were so ripe for it to burn.
“Things were just burning around you. All it was, was save yourself.”
Ian is also a life member of the CFA and the Gisborne CFA and is the group officer for the Mount Macedon Group.
He said the comradery was what he enjoyed the most about being with the CFA.
“You are put through hard times together and you work it out together,” he said.
“Through the CFA, I can go most places in Victoria and know someone. We’re a big family.”
