General News
17 July, 2026
Local brigade holds AGM
Maryborough Fire Brigade recently reflected on another year defending the local community at their annual meeting.
Maryborough Fire Brigade recently reflected on another “demanding” year of ever-changing incidents.
Captain Darryl Wagstaff’s recently released report describes the brigade’s activities and achievements in their 165th year of protecting the community.
The brigade responded to 162 incidents in 2025/26, shy of their 165 call-out record set last year, revealed in Captain Wagstaff’s 37th Captain’s Report.
“The year that’s gone past has been a very demanding year for us because our fire calls are up overall, as it has been in the past, so we’re tending to more and more incidents each year,” he said.
Two major call outs involved mercury spills at Maryborough Hospital, in October, and Maryborough Education Centre, in June.
Captain Wagstaff said crews were on scene for eight and six hours respectively.
“It’s a very strange position to have two mercury incidents within a six month period when you don’t have any for forever and a day,” he said.
Captain Wagstaff said one of their biggest fire calls for the year was the Lyal Eales building fire in July last year.
Emergency services managed to contain the blaze to the rear corner of the building protecting most of the building and stock.
He said it was an example of the changing considerations of the modern firefighter.
“A lot of that is with man-made products, the synthetics, we need to make sure we’re wearing the correct breathing apparatus for a particular job,” he said.
This became relevant during the Lyal Eales fire.
“We set up a defensive fire attack and had two firefighters with breathing apparatus enter the building with a hose line, on entering the building, the whole building was full of black smoke and they were unable to see,” Captain Wagstaff said last year.
“We then got the other brigades to set up on the west side of the building with breathing apparatus and worked their way to the seat of the fire.”
Emergency services were on the scene for approximately two hours with the fire declared under control in under an hour.
Captain Wagstaff credited his brigade members for their success throughout the year.
“Overall it’s just the general contribution of my brigade members, my officers, my lieutenants, that do a wonderful job in supporting me and the brigade and their contribution to the community,” he said.
The Maryborough Fire Brigade welcomed 10 new members this year and celebrated their long-standing volunteers.
Captain Wagstaff said the brigade had a “fairly healthy” membership at present.
“We’ve had a number of new members come in and of course the longer serving members are very good with the newcomers to pass on their experience, their knowledge, and to take them under their wing in what you would class as a mentor position,” he said.
Among those long standing members are volunteers with 25 through to 60 years of service.
Ian Hubble, 25 years
Kevin Henderson, 35 years
Anthony Passalick, 40 years
Robert Bird, 45 years
Daniel Mullins, 60 years
Captain Wagstaff acknowledged the professionalism, discipline, and unwavering commitment shown by members across all roles.
He said that every contribution plays a role in upholding the brigade’s strong reputation and long-standing community presence.