Standing room only as Coledale's fire station reopens amid great fanfare

The official opening of Coledale's renovated fire station attracted scores of people into the tiny building on Thursday, June 27.

The $1.65 million renovation was something to be celebrated for firefighters, their families and the wider community.

The station has doubled in size, it's got a new roof, amenities, kitchen and storeroom, bigger space for the fire truck, and safe areas for crews to keep their dirty firefighting gear away from 'clean' areas used for training.

Inside the packed station, Coledale Public School students stood facing dignitaries and sang the national anthem - the first verse in Darawhal language, the second in English.

Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell and firefighters from across the Illawarra stood facing them, at attention and saluting.

It's almost 100 years ago that Coledale first had a fire station, the original one opened in 1930 across the road from the current one on eastern side of Lawrence Hargrave Drive. The station in its existing site opened in 1956.

The century has seen a lot of changes to keep firefighters safe while doing their job, and the addition of female firefighters - 10 per cent of the state's FRNSW crews are now female.

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The renovations mean this is the first time the station has had female amenities.

FRNSW Coledale Captain Chris Kubara told those gathered he was a very proud captain.

"I've been here for nearly 30 years and the changes I've seen have been astronomical," he said.

"Our station has doubled in size, our crew has remained faithful, ever-ready and staying here for as long as we can."

Commissioner Fewtrell praised everyone who has worked towards the opening of the renovated station.

"Firefighting has changed in the 60 or so years since this station was first built, back then it was just a very small truck with not a lot of gear on it and the work they did was just around firefighting, it's so much more now," he said.

"It's fire, rescue, HAZMAT and a whole range of other activities supporting the other services. To do that well we need the right facilities and this is what we've been able to achieve."

Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery told those gathered that Wollongong local government area is basically two-thirds bushland.

"We live on only one-third of the 714 square kilometres of the city," he said.

"Having this resource in the northern burbs, and connecting with others, to deliver fire and rescue services as well as working with other emergency services is extremely important."

Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart praised firefighters for their service.

"To the firefighters at this station, you are not just responders in times of crisis, fires, motor vehicles, you are our neighbours, you are our friends, you are our family and an integral part of our community," she said.

"Your efforts empower our community to keep ourselves safe and prevent anything happening."

Coledale is a retained FRNSW station, meaning it's not manned full-time. These firefighters have jobs elsewhere and during emergencies they're paged in, jump on the truck and respond out to the incident.

Commissioner Fewtrell praised firefighters' families for their unwavering support.

"That means there's disruptions to the family," he said. "Talking to families that are here, I'm sure they'll tell you about the time where their loved ones have had to leave them high and dry in the middle of dinner, maybe got out of the washing up a couple of times ... it's not without sacrifice and contribution from the families as well."

The commissioner said he was hopeful the station becomes a gathering point for firefighters and their families to come together at special times.