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Around 150 people gathered at the Tullibigeal Community Centre on Sunday 20th October to witness the unveiling of the restored Bedford fire truck No. 82.
The truck started life at Lockhart in 1961 as the town fire engine and Lachlan Shire Council purchased it in 1987 and brought it to Tullibigeal.
The “Ladies Fire Truck” moniker was born from the 1990 bushfire, when the ladies commandeered it to extinguish spot fires in town while all the men were out fighting a raging fire north of town. The ladies then trained with the RFS to learn how to use fire engines. The truck sat in an open shed from 1992 until 2017 when it came out of mothballs for the Tullibigeal Centenary celebrations parade.
In late 2022 Elaine Bendall, our local councillor approached Doug Turriff the Secretary of the Tullibigeal Bush Fire Brigade, asking what the RFS were going to do with the truck. On learning that it actually belonged to the Lachlan Shire Council, Elaine set about applying for a grant to build an enclosure and put the truck on display as a tourist attraction.
Sadly, Elaine passed away before the grant was realised. With the Council receiving money to erect the enclosure, the Tullibigeal Progress applied and were successful in obtaining a grant to restore the vehicle.
Finding someone to restore the vehicle proved a problem. Quotes were way above the funding.
Feeling the project was going to fail, it was decided to not fully restore the truck, but to clean it up and retain the patina the way it was when it arrived in Tullibigeal. Andrew Crook from Yenda took on the project doing a fantastic job making the old truck shine.
Speaking at the opening, Doug Turriff dedicated the display to the late Councillor Elaine Bendall, and the brave ladies who manned the truck in 1990.
Warren and the Bendall family were present on the day to unveil a plaque which was laid in recognition of Elaine’s instigation of the project as well as numerous other achievements within the community.
Present and acknowledged were five of the ladies who had trained with the RFS in 1991, adding to the spectacle of the day was a collection of restored vehicles, from Griffith, Lake Cargelligo, West Wyalong and Condobolin.
On completion of the official opening lunch was provided by the Progress Association.

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