Ballarat City Fire Brigade is celebrating a major new milestone, appointing its first brigade captain – and first ever female captain – in 70 years.
Current brigade secretary, Nicole McGrath (pictured) was elected Captain after the position became available following changes to the command structure as part of fire services reform.
Officer in Charge at Ballarat Country Fire Authority (CFA), Commander Anthony Pearce said Ms McGrath had 22 years experience with the CFA in a number of roles and had been involved in running bushfire workshops locally.
“[Ms McGrath] will also become the first female Captain within CFA’s Eureka Group, which includes Ballarat, Ballarat City, Sebastopol, Wendouree and Buninyong-Mount Helen Fire Brigades,” Commander Pearce said.
“She’s been an important advocate for volunteers in the community throughout the entirety of her CFA involvement,” he said.
Commander Pearce said it was a great opportunity for Ms McGrath to “lead from the front” and advocate for increasing volunteer involvement in CFA and particularly the Ballarat City Fire Brigade.
Ms McGrath said she felt extremely privileged to be elected as Captain of the brigade and was excited for the future.
“We have a fantastic team here and we have a lot of work ahead of us, so I’m looking forward to expanding our cohesive brigade,” Ms McGrath said.
