Celebrating Bob Trezise

Today we celebrate one of our longest serving members Bob Trezise.

On his 60th anniversary as a member of the CFA, the Brigade will farewell Bob and his family as they move North to embark upon their next adventure.

Bob’s family home was burnt in the Warrandyte fires in 1939, and again in 1962. When he was five years old, he recalls wetting spud bags in a tank and extinguishing spot fires with a gum branch. “You had to be careful to wave into the fire” he says, “so you don’t spread it more.”

When asked why he became a volunteer firefighter in 1962, Bob’s view is straightforward “It’s a small town” he says, “it was the thing you did”.

After moving to Portarlington, Bob joined our Brigade in 1973 where he continued to protect the community as a volunteer firefighter. He served as Lieutenant from 1980 until 1994 when he was elected Captain, leading the Brigade until 1998. During his tenure as an elected leader of the Portarlington CFA, the Brigade experienced remarkable changes. The engine room floor was concreted for the first time, replacing the old wooden boards. The Brigade obtained new, better appliances enabling advancements in firefighting practice and firefighter safety. Also during Bob’s tenure, the Portarlington Brigade attended the Ash Wednesday fires in the Otway Rangers, working with firefighters across the region to protect their community. After the fires, the Brigade raised $7,859 (equivalent to $26,574 today) for the families of CFA volunteers who lost their lives in the fires.

Reflecting on his decades of service, Bob is focused on his team “There is so much support, too much to mention” he says. “Blokes grow with you, you know their capability, they know yours, and you combine. You know what you’re going to do.”

Bob is well known in the Brigade for supporting new members, sharing his six decades of firefighting experience and knowledge. A staunch advocate for firefighter safety, Bob’s mantra – if you’re not going to get to the fire, don’t leave the station – continues to underpin the firefighting ethos of our Brigade.

Through the CFA, Bob has served the community for sixty years. Giving hours of his time and litres of sweat, he is unreserved with his knowledge, and his service to others.

But Bob is not the only member of the Trezise family to have served our community. Bob’s wife Val Trezise has also served for decades. As a long-term member of our former Ladies Auxilliery, of which she served as President, leading fundraising and engagement activities for the Brigade and broader communities. As pillars of Portarlington, Bob and Val’s service to others has been remarkable.

We invite the community to join with us in thanking Bob and Val, for their decades of service to us, and for the many, many lives and properties still with us because of their contribution.