Station Focus: 072 Merrylands Fire Brigade 1925–2025

Early calls for the formation of a fire brigade within Merrylands were made to the Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW (BoFC) by the Prospect and Sherwood Council (now Cumberland City Council) in April 1922. Requests for a dedicated brigade would also be made by and maintained by the Loftus Park Progress Association in May 1923. The BoFC, in agreement with the concerns of the Council and the Progress Association, would acquire land on Merrylands Road in 1923, with the intention to build a new station. By December 1924, a station had yet to be constructed resulting in the Prospect and Sherwood Council campaigning for the BoFC for a brigade to be installed in the following year. Granting this wish, the BoFC provided a small temporary station which had originally served as Fairfield Fire Station, relocating the building to Merrylands in January 1925.

With a provision of a station, Merrylands Fire Brigade was then officially established on 15 February 1925 with an authorised strength of seven Firefighters and a Captain. The Station was originally equipped with a hose reel and all other necessary gear. In June 1925, several months after the brigade officially commenced, approval was received for a motorised fire appliance to be installed, with the first being the No. 127 Ford Model T fire engine which was previously stationed at No. 055 Guildford Fire Station.

Merrylands Fire Brigade seated on their Garford Fire Engine, 1932 [Museum of Fire Collection]

As Merrylands continued to develop, the needs of the suburb soon outgrew the temporary station they had been given. Holroyd Council (which has also become Cumberland City Council) wrote to the BoFC requesting the provision of a station more in keeping with the requirements and importance of the Holroyd district. The request was favourably received and sketch plans for a station were submitted to the BoFC by September 1936. Invitations for tenders were published in the local newspapers in January 1937. Mr. C.R. Carpenter, who had previously built Auburn Fire Station was employed to construct the new Merrylands Fire Station and began work in February 1937.

The Station was completed within the next 5 months and occupied by the Captain of the Brigade, W. Deveson in July 1937. The building consisted of an engine room, watchroom, recreation room, store and bathroom. The Captain’s residence which Deveson resided in consisted of a living room, three bedrooms, a kitchen, laundry, bathroom, and an enclosed back veranda. Merrylands Fire Station was then officially opened not long after Deveson made it his home, on 29 July 1937.

Whilst the station on Merrylands Road has remained mostly the same, to ensure that the 1937 fire station remained up to standard with the demands of the 21st century, a number of renovations took place in 2005-2006 as well as in 2023. Today, Merrylands Fire Brigade is one of the busiest On-Call fire stations in New South Wales. The brigade attended a total of 1,347 incidents over the 2023 – 2024 period. Of these, 120 were responses to fires.

Merrylands Fire Station, 1984 [Museum of Fire Collection]

Captains List

Name	Appointment as Captain	End of Service as Captain
W. Deveson	15/02/1925	30/04/1951
A. Clark	01/07/1951	01/06/1970
N. Walsh	01/06/1970	1/07/1975
G. Wright	01/07/1975	1/07/1996
A. Dunn	10/07/1996	31/12/1997
G. Fitzhenry	26/02/1998	1/10/2004
J. Russell	10/12/2004	19/07/2013
P. Gardner	06/02/2014	1/08/2017
E. Michelmore	04/04/2018	21/07/2021
W. Jones	15/11/2021	Present

Historic Fleet List

Year	Make/Model	Number	Type
1925	Ford Model T	127	Pumper
1929	Garford Type 64	100	Pumper
1933	Garford Type 75	112	Pumper
1934	Garford Type 75	083	Pumper
1934	Garford Type 75	143	Pumper
1935	Garford Type 75	128	Pumper
1937	Dennis 250	075	Pumper
1939	Dennis 250/400	106	Pumper
1941	Dennis 350/500	030	Pumper
1948	Dennis Ace	111	Pumper
1952	Dennis Light 4	050	Pumper
1953	Dennis Light 4	123	Pumper
1957	Dennis F1	007	Pumper
1966	Commer R741	147	Pumper
1973	International C1600	463	Pumper
1981	International 1710B	642	Pumper
1985	International 1810C	284	Pumper
1986	International 1810D	167	Pumper
1999	International 1810D	163	Pumper
2002	Austral FirePac 3500	224	Pumper
2011	Isuzu FTR900	652	Pumper
2016	Mercedes Atego 1626A	483	Pumper

-Story by Museum of Fire Heritage Team