Longford Volunteer Fire Brigade

10/04/2026

On behalf of the Longford Fire Brigade we would like to pass on our gratitude to Ron Denne for all of his support and guidance fulfilling his duties as the Norfolk Plains Group Officer.

Ron recently stepped down as the Group Officer after a ten year tenure in the role. During that time Ron has been an absolute pillar of support for all brigades within the Norfolk Plains group. Ron is one of the greatest people to ever do it and is well known within the communities of Longford and surrounds.

We are incredibly proud to have Ron as a part of our brigade. Ron joined the TFS over 35 years ago and he is always motivated to share his learnings and experiences he has encountered during that time with our members. Ron is highly motivated to get brigades together for regular training and works closely with brigade leadership to co-ordinate training and community events. Ron was instrumental at assisting with the Bishopsbourne/Longford brigade amalgamations and members to this day commend him on his time and efforts in ensuring this process was smooth for all involved.

Although Ron has relinquished the role of group officer we are pleased to be able to say that he is continuing his service with the TFS and will remain as a member of the Longford Fire Brigade. Ron will also continue to serve as our local permit officer, a role that he truly enjoys undertaking. Ron often comes to training nights with great stories and tales from the local area that make us feel pretty special for being a part of it all.

Thank you Ron. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for not only the Longford Fire Brigade but more importantly the Longford community. 10 years as the group officer is an impressive achievement and 35 years with the Tasmania Fire Service is even more outstanding. We hope to have you aboard for many more to come!

Ron passes the torch on to Tom Green of the Lake River fire brigade. Tom is highly motivated and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the role. We wish Tom all the best and look forward to working with him soon.

Ronnie isn't going anywhere. At this rate he will outlast our youngest members 😅

08/04/2026

On Easter Monday afternoon the Longford fire brigade held our own little Easter egg hunt. We would like to extend our thanks to Mark Shelton and the Longford Rotary Club for their generous donations of Easter eggs.
Your support helped us create a fun and memorable egg hunt for our members and their families. The smiles, excitement and community spirit on the day were made possible thanks to your kindness.
Thank you for helping make our Easter celebration such a success!

08/04/2026

Whilst the permit period is coming to an end we encourage everyone to have a good read of the given advice below. We encourage you to continue to register your burns with the TFS, this will reduce the likelihood of a false callouts or if in the event things go wrong it helps local crews know where to go and what to they may find on arrival.

🔥 The 2025/26 Fire Permit Period will end statewide tomorrow (Thursday, 9 April 2026).

ℹ️ From 2am tomorrow, if you’re considering burning on your property:
🤝 you don’t require a fire permit
🤝 BUT we encourage you to register your burn by calling 1800 000 699. Registering your burn will ensure your local Tasmania Fire Service brigade are aware of your plans and can respond accordingly.

📍 Remember:
➡️ Anyone conducting a burn must be capable of managing the fire and be mindful of changing weather conditions.
➡️ Make sure an adult is always attending the burn until it is fully extinguished.
➡️ Have suitable working firefighting equipment available to appropriately manage fire activity in the event that the fire begins to spread.
➡️ Never light fires in peat, humus, or marram grass.
➡️ Landowners are responsible for any damage caused by fires escaping their land.
➡️ Ensure your neighbours are aware and that your burn won’t adversely affect their health, or farming operations – particularly the wine industry, which is vulnerable to smoke.
➡️ Burning on private property is governed by local council by-laws and environmental laws about smoke emissions.

Further information is available at fire.tas.gov.au

02/04/2026

On Monday night the brigade conducted training completing the annual Longford football ground grandstand clean. This is done to help the football club prepare for the season and to give firefighters valuable pumping and hose handling skills in tricky situations.

If you look closely you can even see the rare red helmet of “Longford 1” on the branch 😉

26/03/2026

You may have noticed some red and blue flashing lights at the mill dam on Monday night well, that’s was us. Monday is our weekly training night, this weeks task set by the officer group was to draft water from the river using a portable pump and use closed circuit relay pumping to show water at each appliance. A great night of fun and problem solving with a brush up on valuable skills 👨‍🚒👩‍🚒🚒

26/03/2026

👨‍🚒Tasmania Fire Service is warning of the potential fire safety risk to stockpiling petrol and diesel at home.

⚠️🔥Storing extra fuel at home increases the risk of fire, fumes, and creates unsafe storage conditions.

➡️ To keep yourself, your household, and your community safe, please be aware of the following advice.

📌 Store only small amounts of fuel at home and ensure quantities remain below dangerous goods threshold limits.

📌 Use approved, clearly labelled fuel containers that comply with Australian Standards for flammable and combustible liquids.

📌 Keep fuel in a cool, well ventilated area, away from direct sunlight and any potential ignition sources to minimise fire and vapour hazards.

📌 Store fuel separately from incompatible chemicals, ensuring containers are upright, secure, and protected from heat.

📌 Maintain appropriate fire safety equipment, such as a portable dry chemical fire extinguisher, and ensure anyone who may need to use it understands safe operation.

📌 Keep all flammable liquids out of reach of children.

📌 Be aware that vapours from flammable liquids can significantly increase fire risks in both home fires and bushfires.

➡️ For further safety information visit the WorkSafe Tasmania website.
https://worksafe.tas.gov.au/topics/Health-and-Safety/hazards-and-solutions-a-z/hazards-and-solutions-a-z-pages/f/fuel-storage-and-transport

➡️In an emergency, call 000 immediately.

08/03/2026

The Longford fire brigade would like to say a massive happy international women’s day. We appreciate all the hard work and dedication you put in, many of you are balancing parenting, home life and work but still manage to find time to give to the brigade.

We would also like to acknowledge the people behind the scenes, the partners, wives and mums at home who hold down the fort when the pagers go off. You efforts are not forgotten within the members of our brigade.

We thank all of you 😁

24/02/2026

If you have driven along Marlborough street today you may have noticed some new road markings out the front of our station. “Why?” Well over the past several months our dedicated team have noticed an increase in members of the public parking in and across our driveways while collecting takeaway, on several occasions leaving their vehicles completely unattended.

This could have potentially caused a delay in the response times of our crews and put members of the community at unnecessary risk so, In order to prevent an incident we approached both the District Committee and the Northern Midlands Council to make the existing yellow lines more visible, in hopes to discourage the behaviour of parking across the stations access and appliance exit.

We would like to thank the hard work of the District Committee and Northern Midlands Council for their support and prompt action on the matter, the brigade is very appreciative.

17/02/2026

Tasmania Fire Service crews will this morning continue patrolling a fireground in the Longford area where a bushfire Emergency flared on Tuesday afternoon before being brought under control.

Firefighter patrols, established containment lines and some light rain contributed to benign fire activity overnight.

The TFS advises there is no immediate threat to the community and;

• A Bushfire Advice is in place for Cotton Street, Longford – Monitor conditions remains current.

• A Bushfire Smoke Alert – Longford and surrounds remains current.

Deputy Regional Chief Steven Richardson said the fire had burnt about 13 hectares and one outbuilding, identified as a chicken shed, had been destroyed.

A TFS fire investigator will be on scene today and crews will make further assessments of any property or stock losses.

“I would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank our dedicated volunteer firefighters for their ongoing efforts to protect the community,” Deputy Regional Chief Richardson said.

“Our crews this morning will concentrate efforts on the western flank of the fireground to strengthen containment and prevent further spread today.

“Ten crews will continue patrolling the fireground, with more crews resourced as forecast winds pick up this afternoon.”

The large scrub fire on the corner of Cressy Road and Cotton Street, Longford, was reported shortly after 3pm on Tuesday and reached Emergency level about 3.50pm as conditions escalated and flames approached homes and other structures.

Prompt action by TFS crews, volunteer firefighters and the use of firebombing aircraft brought the bushfire under control.

Four aircraft and more than 20 firefighting appliances responded to the incident and the fire was downgraded to Advice about 5.45pm Tuesday.

Local TFS crews remained on scene last night to clear debris and watch for spot fires.

Tasmania Fire Service is asking everyone to be extra cautious over much of the next week due to elevated fire dangers forecast.

“Everyone has a role to play in reducing fire risk and being prepared,” Deputy Regional Chief Richardson said.

“For help preparing your property, visit the Tasmania Fire Service Website and download the Bushfire Safety Guide. “

To find out more information, go to bushfire.tas.gov.au/my-bushfire-plan

For fire updates, listen to ABC Local Radio or visit tasalert.com

11/02/2026

With cooler temperatures and showery conditions forecast tomorrow, it might surprise you that high fire dangers are forecast across much of the state.

Recent dry conditions mean vegetation can still ignite and fires may spread quickly if they start.

Help us keep Tasmania safe by:

🔥Making sure any fires lit in recent days or weeks, including fire pits and other outdoor fires, are fully extinguished. Soak it. Stir it. Soak it again.

🗒️Checking your bushfire plan and prepare your property.

🔥If you do see any signs of fire re-igniting such as smoke and flames, call Triple Zero (000).

📱Keep up to date with warnings and information on the TasALERT app or at TasALERT.com, or by listening to ABC Local Radio.

📜Fire Permits are in place across the state, call 1800 000 699 to apply for a permit.

🔗Prepare your property and have a bushfire plan: www.bushfire.tas.gov.au

03/02/2026

26/01/2026

We would like to give a shoutout to all TFS members who have been or are currently on deployment on the big island assisting with firefighting efforts!

This week is shaping up to be a real tough one for the guys and girls over there. We send our thoughts to everyone impacted in recent times and give all of our best wishes to our mainland counterparts who are bracing for what is to come.

We would like to wish one of our very own, Daniel McCullagh, all the best as he commenced deployment today. As well as being a dedicated member of the Longford Fire Brigade, Daniel is also a member of the TFS remote Area Teams. He is heading over to assist with firefighting efforts for the coming week.

All the best mate and stay safe!