On Sunday, June 4th the Lobethal Country Fire Service opened its doors to the local community for the commissioning of their new CFS 24P fire appliance (pictured right), a new SES road crash rescue vehicle and SES salvage and rescue vehicle.

Captain of the Lobethal CFS, Geoff Weidenhofer, welcomed the Minister for Emergency Services the Honourable Carmel Zollo, Mark Goldsworthy MP, invited dignitaries from the SA Country Fire Service and State Emergency Service and guests to the afternoons proceedings.

The Honourable Carmel Zollo, in her speech to the gathering, expressed her appreciation to the volunteers of the Lobethal CFS, some of whom, are also members of the SES, for their dedication in the service to the community.

She also made mention of the long history associated with the Lobethal brigade which came into existence in 1928, one of the oldest brigades in the state.

Following her speech, the Minister invited Captain Weidenhofer to accept the keys to the CFS 24P fire appliance and the SES Road Crash Rescue vehicle (pictured above).

Mr Peter Wicks, Unit Manager, Onkaparinga State Emergency Service accepted the keys for the SES Salvage and Rescue vehicle from the Minister.

After the commissioning of the vehicles, Long-service awards, including some with thirty years membership of the Lobethal brigade, were presented by Mr Andrew Lawson, SA CFS Deputy Chief Officer.

Life membership certificates were presented to Chris Cotton, Phil Schultz and David Dearman.

At the conclusion of the presentation, Captain Weidenhofer commented that it was very gratifying to see so many years of service and dedication given to the community by the volunteers.

Certificates of Appreciation were presented by Mr David Place, SES Chief Officer, to delegates of the Onkaparinga CFS/SES from Lobethal, Woodside, Lenswood/Forest Range and Oakbank/Balhannah for their assistance to the community of Virginia during the flood crisis in November, 2005.

The local member of Parliament, Mr Mark Goldsworthy MP was asked to make a presentation of a Certificate of Appreciation to the volunteer staff of the Lobethal CFS Opp Shop for their continued hard work to raise funds for the future development of the Lobethal CFS.

Money raised through the Opp Shop, and the efforts of the Ladies auxiliary, has been used to provide the extension to the fire station of a meeting room, locker room and tea room.

The extensions to the fire station is commemorated with a plaque, unveiled jointly by the Honourable Carmel Zollo and Mark Goldsworthy MP.

At the conclusion of the formalities, Captain Weidenhofer invited the dignitaries and guests to afternoon tea and to inspect the new vehicles and building extensions.