By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
BACK in 1980 when he put out a small fire in his backyard, Colin Booth couldn’t have known what the future held.
Fast forward 35 years and the 67-year-old was honoured on Tuesday with the Australia Day Fire Service Medal, after three and a half decades of service to the CFA – majority with the Narre Warren brigade.
“There was actually another member who lived up where I used to live, I didn’t realise he was in the CFA,” Colin told Star News.
“There was a small grassfire at the back of my property, and my neighbour helped me put it out and said I should join the fire brigade.
“And I’ve been there ever since.”
Colin, who has lived in Narre Warren for the last 26 years, has given his all to the local brigade and continues to do so.
A trained fire investigator and a mentor to junior members, Colin was also the catalyst who led to the brigade fund-raising for a salvage unit to service the local area.
The catering vehicle is now seen as a bench mark for other brigades in Victoria.
But from Colin’s perspective, it’s not about individual honours. The Narre Warren brigade is his second family.
“To me it’s the best brigade,” he said.
“The membership of the brigade is so dedicated to what they want to do and what they’re doing.
“Narre Warren is lucky to have this brigade because it is one of the best.”
Born in Leicester, England, Colin followed a friend out to Australia and didn’t take long to decide this was the country he wanted to live the rest of his life in.
It’s a life which led him into the Narre Warren CFA, where he has experienced so much – both rewarding moments and tragic.
The brigade lost six of its members during the Ash Wednesday fires.
“I don’t want to talk about it too much,” Colin said.
“It was a hard time for us; we lost a fair chunk of the brigade.”
The spirit of those lost to the Narre Warren CFA has stayed with Colin every day since. It’s their memory he draws on for strength and it’s his compassion which has seen him become so devoted to the group.
It’s a brigade he’s a life-member of, along with his wife, Hazel.
And it’s a family he’ll always be there for.
“The only way they’re gonna get me out of the brigade is in a pine box,” Colin said, with more than a hint of truth.
