General News
13 January, 2026
Local firefighters commended for bravery
Local fire brigade volunteers worked for hours to protect homes and properties late in the day and into Saturday, and are being commended for their bravery.
Local firefighting volunteers are being commended for their bravery battling the region’s fires in catastrophic conditions.
The Central Goldfields Shire may have avoided the worst of Friday’s fires that raged in the state, but the community saw the hallmarks of their devastation in a smoke filled sky.
Among them was a fire which devastated Harcourt Friday evening while a strike team of local brigades tried to protect the resident’s homes.
CFA’s Goldfields Group Officer Peter Higgins said pride isn’t a strong enough word for how he feels about local and statewide volunteers.
“They worked well and they deserve all the gratitude that’s coming their way,” he said.
“Goldfields can hold their head high. They’ve done a magnificent job.”
It’s understood the Harcourt blaze destroyed three local businesses and 47 homes.
Mr Higgins said, however, it would have been worse without CFA volunteers.
“Fire brigades were dragging people out of the house from the front with the landowner unaware the back of his house was on fire. That’s the job that we do. It’s confronting, yes, but there were no questions asked,” he said.
Local brigades fought the fire overnight Friday, and into the weekend, trying to protect local assets against challenging conditions.
“Everybody knew if anything was going to start on that day it was going to be big,” Mr Higgins said.
While he said they weren’t always able to save local homes, they tried at great personal risk.
“Some of them probably have seen stuff they don’t want to see,” he said.
“Coming home on the bus it was pretty quiet.”
The Goldfields Group had one volunteer who was hospitalised due to smoke inhalation who, Mr Higgins said, has now recovered.
“She’s all good and ready to go again,” he said.
As fires remain across the state, Mr Higgins said the local community can show their support by advocating to the State Government.
“Get on the bandwagon about making sure CFA have new trucks,” he said.
“The more modern equipment we have the better we can fight fires, as simple as that.”
Mr Higgins said some local fire trucks are almost 30 years old, in the red zone for replacing, but they don’t have funding.
This leaves some volunteers responding to fires on the back of the truck, often in extreme heat, in their full gear.
“We’re getting punished here,” he said.
Despite the conditions, including extreme heat which saw local brigades go through a pallet of drinking water, local volunteers turned out.
“They get on the truck and they do what they do best and save lives,” Mr Higgins said.
“That’s the bunch of people I’ve got in goldfields.”