Above: Ferntree Gully CFA’s Grahame Daniel, Ian Hutchinson, Milton Dinsdale, Tabatha James and Jerry de Leon prepare for the torchlight parade.
By Casey Neill
KNOX will pay tribute to the CFA volunteers who bravely battled the Black Saturday blazes and to the bushfires’ victims this Saturday 28 February.
The CFA Knox Brigades Group torchlight parade is held in Knox every two years.
This year’s march will feature a heartfelt tribute following the recent devastation.
The NSW Rural Fire Service, Victoria Police, Ringwood Pipe and Wonthaggi Citizens bands will perform Amazing Grace as CFA crews enter Ferntree Gully football ground.
“We really want it to be something special,” Ferntree Gully CFA captain Graham Crichton said.
More than 250 volunteers from up to 25 brigades will don their uniform and carry metre-long kerosene torches.
Participating brigades include Selby, Ferntree Gully, Macclesfield, Upper Ferntree Gully, Boronia, Clematis, Belgrave Heights, The Basin and Belgrave.
Knox SES personnel will join the parade for the first time.
The march will begin at Ferntree Gully Fire Station in The Avenue at dusk.
It will proceed down the road, along Station Street, left into Spring Street, into Selman Avenue and will cross Burwood Highway to the Ferntree Gully football ground in Brenock Park Drive.
The Knox Festival fireworks display will follow its arrival. Mr Crichton encouraged spectators to gather along the parade route and the oval.
“What we really want is for residents to come and watch,” he said.
The traditional parade dates back to the early 1900s.
“And it’s quite competitive in some respects,” Mr Crichton said.
There are first, second and third prizes awarded for marching skills.
“Some brigades take it very seriously,” he said.
“They haven’t had much time to practice though.”
Similar parades are held in towns throughout the state.
“At night time it’s quite spectacular,” Mr Crichton said.
