July – On the 29th July 1952 the brigade was officially started, known as the ‘The Hornsby Shire Bush Volunteer Fire Brigade, West Pennant Hills and District’.

December – A trailer tanker, to be pulled by a privately owned tractor, became the brigade’s first firefighting appliance. It had a capacity of 80 gallons (364 litres) and was fitted by the brigade with a petrol driven pump.

October – An old corrugated iron fruit packing shed off Gumnut Road (now Yanderra Grove) became the brigade’s first fire station.

November – The brigade received its first fire truck (tanker): a Second World War vintage Chevrolet “Blitz”. The Blitz carried around 600 gallons of water (2700 litres).

June – The ‘Blitz’ was replaced by a Bedford 4WD tanker (model MFR)

October – The brigade’s first personnel carrier arrived: a Land Rover series III.

December – The Ladies’ Auxiliary was formed to provide catering during incidents and assist with fund raising.

During 1976 – A mobile catering trailer (named “Sally”, after the Salvation Army who first saw the need for a trailer of this type) was designed and built. This became the basic design for many catering trailers used by welfare organisations around the world.

The brigade changed its name to “Cherrybrook Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade”

December – The brigade’s current station was opened, located on Shepherds Drive, Cherrybrook.

August – The brigade received a new Toyota personnel carrier (model 45) to replace the old Land Rover.

November – Our first Isuzu (JCS model) tanker arrived.

January – fire fighting in the campaign against the major fires threatening many Sydney suburbs was the busiest period in the brigade’s history to date.

October – The brigade received a new Isuzu (FTS 700 model) tanker to replace the ageing JCS model. It carried a 3300 litre tank.

May – A new Toyota personal carrier (model 75) replaced the old model 45.

December – A new Isuzu (FTS 750 model) tanker was received, replacing the FTS 700 model.

July – The brigade ventured into the internet with its first website established to handle records, photographs and the calendar.

2001/02 – Members attended major fires for 11 straight days during “Black Christmas” in NSW. The brigade then marched in a ticker tape “thank you” parade in Sydney in March 2002.

May – The brigade celebrated 50 years since its formation, with a number of events including a formal dinner at the Dural Country Club and public display at the Cherrybrook Village shopping centre.

As part of the 50th Anniversary celebrations, the brigade published a book of its history: “50 Flamin’ Years”.

A new ‘state of the art’ concrete pole was installed for hose drying. It includes an electric winch to replace the old (and frail) timber pole with its manual ropes.

June – The brigade responded to a major house fire in Dural with several other RFS and emergency services units.

The front of the station was remodelled (roller door replaced and lifted) to accommodate the new tanker designs which are higher than before.

A new concept vehicle was commissioned for the brigade: ‘Cherrybrook 17’ for operational support. This small truck contains 2 breathing apparatus sets, 23 air cylinders, specialty scene lighting, asbestos management and spill kits and other equipment for structure fires and motor vehicle accidents (MVAs).

December – The brigade received a new Isuzu (FTS 750A model) tanker to replace the ageing FTS 750 model.

January – The brigade was dispatched to Victoria to assist with the ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires. A team of 4 personnel was sent to stand by in the tanker at Gundagai.

January – The brigade finally installed an air conditioning unit in the ‘member’s area’ at the station for our comfort.

2010 - A 10,000 litre rainwater tank was installed as a back up water supply for filling the tanker or training.

February – Brigade communications were further enhanced by the establishment of its own Facebook page, joining its public website and two members only websites.

October – After the relocation of the Catering Brigade to their own building, we expanded to take over the entire fire station. This allowed us to at last park all 3 vehicles in their own bays and plan to further remodel the station.

December – Station renovations commenced, including meeting room and vehicle bay improvements.

April – The brigade attended a significant structure fire at the Dural Business Centre.

July – The brigade attended a major structure fire at Bobbin Head Marina.

August – Cherrybrook Brigade (formerly West Pennant Hills) celebrated 60 Years of Service to the community.

October - Through hard-work fundraising and applying for grants, the brigade receives a new purpose build breathing apparatus, structure fire and MVA support vehicle, replacing the previous Cherrybrook 17.

June - The brigade receives a new Category 1 tanker, replacing the 2007 model.

November / December - The brigade (along with many others in Hornsby / Ku-ring-gai District) respond to storm damage throughout the Cherrybrook and Berowra areas. Volunteers work for many weeks before, during and after Christmas.

December - After many decades in service, the brigade sadly looses Cherrybrook PC (Toyota Landcruiser Troop-carrier), and receives a Category 7 tanker.

December - The brigade receives a single cab Category 7 truck, Cherrybrook 7 and immediately commence familiarisation and practice multi tanker scenarios. Cherrybrook 7 is later damaged beyond repair when a tree falls on it during fires in the Hunter Valley. The three crew members are not physically injured.

August to September - The brigade responds to the growing NSW and later national fire emergency with deployments across NSW. Crews deploy early to the Central Tablelands and North Coast.

October to December - As the fires move south the brigade is heavily committed to the Taree area and move south to a long commitment in the Hunter Valley, Lake Macquarie, Central Coast and Gospers Mountain areas and the fires surround Sydney. Two crews (C1 and C7) are part of a strike team that dramatically saves property in South Turramurra in November. Further deployments take the brigade to the Blue Mountains, Bilpin and Lithgow areas. As Christmas draws near the brigade has been operating constantly for several months and operations swing to the Southern Tablelands, south coast and ACT. Crews deploy to the Bargo area and later Sussex inlet, Exeter and further south. Operations continue through Christmas day and up to New Year’s day.

January - In the new year wildfire operations are still continuing to the Blue Mountains around the Bells Line of Roads, including Bilpin. Crews continue to deploy south and to the Blue Mountains as fires gradually come under control. In one deployment south a crew is later awarded the Commissioner’s Commendation for Service for their response when Brooklyn 1 rolls over and several firefighters are injured at night in difficult conditions and poor radio communications signals.

January - Thunderstorms strike across NSW and all but extinguish the remaining fires. Crews are now deployed to assist storm recovery in the local district, from Cherrybrook to Hornsby.

March to December - The COVID pandemic strikes and most activity except for incident response and essential training, maintenance and administration is curtailed. During this period many members receive the NSW Government Citation for their service during the 2019/20 fires.

March - Storms lead to significant floods across NSW and the brigade is deployed to storm recovery operations around the Wisemans Ferry area to assist the community.

February - The brigade receives a temporary replacement for Cherrybrook 7 in the form of a dual cab Category 7, Engineering 7E.

April - In late April a new dual cab Cherrybrook 7 is received.

July - The brigade celebrates 70 years of serving the community.

October - Cherrybrook Brigade becomes a Breathing Apparatus (BA) capable brigade, adding two BA sets to our category 1 truck (Cherrybrook 1).

Stay tuned