HISTORY OF
THE CITY OF COCKBURN
VOLUNTARY
STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE INC.
It is understood that a Cockburn Voluntary Emergency Service (CVES) existed several years before 1981, but had met with limited success on at least 2 occasions that can be found.
Nothing is known of the first occasion that the CVES was started up but it is known that a Mr. F. J. Ingram J.P. “reactivated” the CVES in December 1975.
It appears Mr. Ingram struggled from the outset and in the end closed down the CVES on Thursday, 12th May, 1977.
There was another organization called CREST (Citizens Radio Emergency Support Team) of which an Oleg Milosavlejic (Ollie Milo) was a member. The CREST group with strength of 14 were keen to be part of an SES group.
Apparently Mr. Ingram again expressed his intention to reform the CVES, a move that was not popular, but with the intervention of Mr. Kevin Egan, the Area Co-ordinator (Metropolitan) for the Western Australian State Emergency Service, in June 1981, talks began with The City of Cockburn Shire Clerk. Mr. R. W. Brown, Acting Town Clerk, City of Cockburn wrote to Mr. K. Egan to advise that Council had, on 27th October, 1981 resolved to offer the appointment of Co-ordinator of the CVES to Mr. Oleg Milosavljevic.
The Cockburn Unit as we know it today formally began its operations in December, 1981 with 6 members and by February, 1982 membership had increased to 23. In March 1982 Council provided a house in Spearwood as the Unit Base and equipment was provided by the Western Australian State Emergency Service (WASES).
In September 1982 Cockburn Cement donated the funds to purchase a second hand Landrover 4WD station wagon, so the Unit had its first vehicle.
Realising that the house was totally inadequate as an SES Base, Council provided the old Council Parks & Garden Depot in Kent Street, but this needed to be modified. With the provision of limited grants, modifications were made to the building with most of the work carried out by the current membership over a period of 18 months, all whilst they maintained the operations of the Unit from the tiny foreman’s office. This was a small separate building in the corner of the grounds.
Technology came to the fore in October 1988 when the Unit owned 7 pagers which meant that a rescue team could be activated within a short period of time, instead of the tedious job of ringing members individually to try to track their whereabouts in the event of a call out situation.
In February, 1989 when membership had reached 40, the Kent Street building was officially opened by His Worship, the Mayor of Cockburn, Mr. Don Miguel.
Mr Miguel said the success of Cockburn’s SES unit was largely due to its present co-ordinator Oleg Milosavljevic. “Ollie was determined an SES unit was needed and often he was a pain as he continually pestered Council for support. The things he asked for were never for himself, but were for others who may one day be in desperate need. Ollie and his workers have been willing to go out any time and help people.”
This paragraph is a direct quote from “The Sound Telegraph”, Wednesday, March 1, 1989
From the commencement of the Unit until 1991, records are very scarce and scant. However, we do know that Ollie Milo (as he was known) remained as Unit Manager during this period of time working tirelessly to develop the profile of the Unit. We are not sure at what point of time it occurred, but his wife, Nellie, was appointed as Deputy Co-Ordinator.
Due to unrest and unhappiness within the Unit, Ollie Milo was asked to step down as Unit Co-ordinator by the members on 8th December, 1982. Both he and his wife, Nellie, resigned their service with the Cockburn SES and Robert Hopkins took up the position as Acting Co-ordinator, finally being appointed to the position on 24th March, 1993. Bob Odgers became his Deputy.
Happier days were seen, with new enthusiasm for training and improved management formulae and with the evolving of the Unit came Incorporation which was declared on 13th December, 1994.
Certificated training in the earlier years up to approx. 1995 was limited mostly to “Basic Mass Rescue”, “Basic Communications”, “Chainsaw”, “Map Reading & Navigation” and Senior First Aid courses. These qualifications were not recognised by other State SES bodies, or by industry. Training of members is an area of huge advancement for the State Emergency Service, where trainers and assessors are now industry qualified and recognised across Australia. This means that qualifications gained by members through SES are useful to them in relevant fields of employment.
By May 2004 the Unit had 30+ pagers in operation, but with most members owning their own mobile phones, the pagers were withdrawn from service as the means of contacting members.
The dedication and tenacity of those who were and are members is remarkable. We have seen members work round the clock for 3 days with the storms that hit Perth in 1994 and again in March 2010, search tirelessly in 1997 for 2 young boys (separate incidents) whose bodies, sadly, were later found as a result of foul play. Then there was the chase of 34 cattle from a truck rollover at Stock & Phoenix Road for 5 hours until all were accounted for in December 1997. There have been many other notable and memorable incidents that have utilised the skills of the members of this Unit – cordoning an homicide scene from the public in 1995, covering a forensic site from the elements, forensic searches, car versus house – 4 occurring in a spate of 5 weeks in November/December 1994, pumping out flooded homes, helping the elderly and frail with simply nailing down a flapping sheet of tin and driving Bushfire Brigade crews changing shifts, to and from the December, 2009 Toodyay fire front.
Our commitment to the public has not only been in time of disaster or emergency. Since its inception, the members of this Unit have involved themselves with the community with assistance that falls outside our Mission statement on an ongoing basis with
In April, 2005 South Coogee Bushfire Brigade approached the Cockburn SES with a view to co-locating to a new site. The pros and cons were discussed and with the SES Kent Street building not only showing its age, but rapidly not meeting the needs of the Unit, it was deemed to be a worthy idea. During January, 2006 representatives from FESA, Jandakot & South Coogee BFB and Cockburn SES met, with Cockburn Council offering a parcel of land in Parkes Road, Yangebup. All agreed it was an excellent site. It wasn’t until early 2010 that the red tape and difficulties between FESA and the City of Cockburn were resolved. By July, 2010 with the bulk of funds and plans approved it was discovered that the Parkes Road site had environmental issues. City of Cockburn quickly found an alternative site on the corner of Poletti & Buckley Sts, Jandakot which both SES & South Coogee BFB agreed met their requirements and also met the approval of FESA and government departments. It is now hoped that by 2012 we will see ourselves in our new premises.
Over the years Cockburn SES has see many people come and go, but prides itself that there have been quite a number who have committed themselves to a considerable number of years service - (*Still Serving)
Robert Hopkins – 27 years (Life member)
Bryn Pryce Howells – 25 years (Life member)
Sean McLaughlin – 25 years *
Ric di Russo – 18 years
May Bowser – 18 years * (Life member)
Beth Drayton – 18 years *
Brendan Bradley – 17 years
Mitch Grant – 17 years (Honorary member)
Eddie Aiken – 17 years *
Ruth Odgers – 16 years (Life member)
Bob Odgers – 16 years (Life member)
Claire Pryce Howells – 16 years (Life member)
Doreen Flett – 16 years
Pat Reed – 15 years *
Nothing is known of the first occasion that the CVES was started up but it is known that a Mr. F. J. Ingram J.P. “reactivated” the CVES in December 1975.
It appears Mr. Ingram struggled from the outset and in the end closed down the CVES on Thursday, 12th May, 1977.
There was another organization called CREST (Citizens Radio Emergency Support Team) of which an Oleg Milosavlejic (Ollie Milo) was a member. The CREST group with strength of 14 were keen to be part of an SES group.
Apparently Mr. Ingram again expressed his intention to reform the CVES, a move that was not popular, but with the intervention of Mr. Kevin Egan, the Area Co-ordinator (Metropolitan) for the Western Australian State Emergency Service, in June 1981, talks began with The City of Cockburn Shire Clerk. Mr. R. W. Brown, Acting Town Clerk, City of Cockburn wrote to Mr. K. Egan to advise that Council had, on 27th October, 1981 resolved to offer the appointment of Co-ordinator of the CVES to Mr. Oleg Milosavljevic.
The Cockburn Unit as we know it today formally began its operations in December, 1981 with 6 members and by February, 1982 membership had increased to 23. In March 1982 Council provided a house in Spearwood as the Unit Base and equipment was provided by the Western Australian State Emergency Service (WASES).
In September 1982 Cockburn Cement donated the funds to purchase a second hand Landrover 4WD station wagon, so the Unit had its first vehicle.
Realising that the house was totally inadequate as an SES Base, Council provided the old Council Parks & Garden Depot in Kent Street, but this needed to be modified. With the provision of limited grants, modifications were made to the building with most of the work carried out by the current membership over a period of 18 months, all whilst they maintained the operations of the Unit from the tiny foreman’s office. This was a small separate building in the corner of the grounds.
Technology came to the fore in October 1988 when the Unit owned 7 pagers which meant that a rescue team could be activated within a short period of time, instead of the tedious job of ringing members individually to try to track their whereabouts in the event of a call out situation.
In February, 1989 when membership had reached 40, the Kent Street building was officially opened by His Worship, the Mayor of Cockburn, Mr. Don Miguel.
Mr Miguel said the success of Cockburn’s SES unit was largely due to its present co-ordinator Oleg Milosavljevic. “Ollie was determined an SES unit was needed and often he was a pain as he continually pestered Council for support. The things he asked for were never for himself, but were for others who may one day be in desperate need. Ollie and his workers have been willing to go out any time and help people.”
This paragraph is a direct quote from “The Sound Telegraph”, Wednesday, March 1, 1989
From the commencement of the Unit until 1991, records are very scarce and scant. However, we do know that Ollie Milo (as he was known) remained as Unit Manager during this period of time working tirelessly to develop the profile of the Unit. We are not sure at what point of time it occurred, but his wife, Nellie, was appointed as Deputy Co-Ordinator.
Due to unrest and unhappiness within the Unit, Ollie Milo was asked to step down as Unit Co-ordinator by the members on 8th December, 1982. Both he and his wife, Nellie, resigned their service with the Cockburn SES and Robert Hopkins took up the position as Acting Co-ordinator, finally being appointed to the position on 24th March, 1993. Bob Odgers became his Deputy.
Happier days were seen, with new enthusiasm for training and improved management formulae and with the evolving of the Unit came Incorporation which was declared on 13th December, 1994.
Certificated training in the earlier years up to approx. 1995 was limited mostly to “Basic Mass Rescue”, “Basic Communications”, “Chainsaw”, “Map Reading & Navigation” and Senior First Aid courses. These qualifications were not recognised by other State SES bodies, or by industry. Training of members is an area of huge advancement for the State Emergency Service, where trainers and assessors are now industry qualified and recognised across Australia. This means that qualifications gained by members through SES are useful to them in relevant fields of employment.
By May 2004 the Unit had 30+ pagers in operation, but with most members owning their own mobile phones, the pagers were withdrawn from service as the means of contacting members.
The dedication and tenacity of those who were and are members is remarkable. We have seen members work round the clock for 3 days with the storms that hit Perth in 1994 and again in March 2010, search tirelessly in 1997 for 2 young boys (separate incidents) whose bodies, sadly, were later found as a result of foul play. Then there was the chase of 34 cattle from a truck rollover at Stock & Phoenix Road for 5 hours until all were accounted for in December 1997. There have been many other notable and memorable incidents that have utilised the skills of the members of this Unit – cordoning an homicide scene from the public in 1995, covering a forensic site from the elements, forensic searches, car versus house – 4 occurring in a spate of 5 weeks in November/December 1994, pumping out flooded homes, helping the elderly and frail with simply nailing down a flapping sheet of tin and driving Bushfire Brigade crews changing shifts, to and from the December, 2009 Toodyay fire front.
Our commitment to the public has not only been in time of disaster or emergency. Since its inception, the members of this Unit have involved themselves with the community with assistance that falls outside our Mission statement on an ongoing basis with
- Red Cross Doorknock
- Flag marshals for Rally Australia
- Cockburn Blue Light Discos
- Anzac Day assistance
- School Fete displays
- Cancer walks
- Greening of the Freeway assistance
- Triathlon Road closures
- City of Cockburn Summer of Fun Concerts
- Cockburn Rotary Spring Fair
- Fremantle Blessing of the Fleet
- Fremantle Festival Parade
- Australia Day Skyshow
- School talks
In April, 2005 South Coogee Bushfire Brigade approached the Cockburn SES with a view to co-locating to a new site. The pros and cons were discussed and with the SES Kent Street building not only showing its age, but rapidly not meeting the needs of the Unit, it was deemed to be a worthy idea. During January, 2006 representatives from FESA, Jandakot & South Coogee BFB and Cockburn SES met, with Cockburn Council offering a parcel of land in Parkes Road, Yangebup. All agreed it was an excellent site. It wasn’t until early 2010 that the red tape and difficulties between FESA and the City of Cockburn were resolved. By July, 2010 with the bulk of funds and plans approved it was discovered that the Parkes Road site had environmental issues. City of Cockburn quickly found an alternative site on the corner of Poletti & Buckley Sts, Jandakot which both SES & South Coogee BFB agreed met their requirements and also met the approval of FESA and government departments. It is now hoped that by 2012 we will see ourselves in our new premises.
Over the years Cockburn SES has see many people come and go, but prides itself that there have been quite a number who have committed themselves to a considerable number of years service - (*Still Serving)
Robert Hopkins – 27 years (Life member)
Bryn Pryce Howells – 25 years (Life member)
Sean McLaughlin – 25 years *
Ric di Russo – 18 years
May Bowser – 18 years * (Life member)
Beth Drayton – 18 years *
Brendan Bradley – 17 years
Mitch Grant – 17 years (Honorary member)
Eddie Aiken – 17 years *
Ruth Odgers – 16 years (Life member)
Bob Odgers – 16 years (Life member)
Claire Pryce Howells – 16 years (Life member)
Doreen Flett – 16 years
Pat Reed – 15 years *
Over the years the emblem of the State Emergency has changed –
Firstly WASES was a stand alone government department although for some years it came under the WA Police Dept. This was the first emblem.
Secondly as it became part of the Fire & Emergency Services Authority it was modernised and reflected the change
And currently, whilst still part of the Fire & Emergency Services Authority, the FESA wording has been dropped to avoid the stigma and confusion perceived by the public that we are part of the fire services! Indeed we are not – we are proudly members of the SES!
