Rural Fire Brigade - Ripley Valley

The Brigade has a current membership of just over 50 members. The fact that many of our members are actually from outside the Brigades designated area which shows the willingness of these people to protect other communities on a voluntary basis. The Ripley Valley Rural Fire Brigade was formed in February 1995 after the November 1994 bushfires which occurred in South East Queensland. The founding committee consisted of local landowners who had some previous experience in fighting bushfires in the Ripley Valley area. The Brigade is one of the nine (9) Brigades that form the Ipswich Group. The Ipswich Group is one of the seven (7) Groups in Southeast Queensland (Ipswich District). All Brigades and Groups are part of the Rural Fire Service (R.F.S.), which is a division of the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (Q.F.R.S.). The Brigade has steadily grown over the years and last year members contributed over 8440 voluntary hours in total in support of the community performing various administrative, training and operational activities. The Brigade area is approximately 170 square kilometres and borders on the south east of Ipswich City which is covered by the Urban Division of the Q.F.R.S. The area extends from Amberley Air Force Base at Amberley to the Springfield Land Development at Springfield and extends south to Spring Mountain and across to Ipswich-Boonah Road approximately half way between Ipswich and Peak Crossing. The Brigade has the following types of risks within its area: Houses, Farm Machinery Sheds, Haysheds, Day Care Centres, Schools, Fertilizer Factories, Engineering Premises, Power Stations, Waste Recycling Landfill Stations, Sawmill, Furniture Storage Warehouse with a major residential and commercial area proposed. The Brigade classification in relation to the risks in its area is Class 2. The Brigade has developed an information kit, which is given to each new resident within the Brigades area, to assist him or her with Fire Management considerations.