In early March 2020, wedding bells replaced brigade sirens at Mirboo North Fire Station when brigade members Andrew Salinger and Amie van Antwerpen held their wedding reception at the station.
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Andrew has been a CFA member for more than 13 years and Amie joined the brigade in 2019 shortly after moving into the area from South Australia. They both joined the brigade because they wanted to support their community.
“I remember first wanting to join CFA when I was 14 years old,” Andrew said. “I joined the brigade as soon as I could and haven’t looked back.”
Andrew and Amie are both firefighters and have attended several incidents together, including deployments to New South Wales last summer.
“It’s nice knowing she’s on the truck with me,” Andrew said. “Although sometimes it has its challenges, it’s nice to be able to come home together and talk about the incident.”
The couple tied the knot down the road at Mossvale Park and then held their wedding reception at the fire station.
“CFA is who we are,” Andrew added. “The brigade is our second family and it was great to be able to celebrate at the station.”
Members made sure brigade equipment was accessible in the case of an emergency, but fortunately no call-outs were made during the celebration.
“We were thinking of places we could hold the reception and the station was our first choice,” Andrew said. “We managed to get some amazing photos of the wedding party with the fire trucks. Who can say they’ve done that?”
Andrew and Amie started their honeymoon travelling around Victoria before finding out they had been successful in securing a place on the Sydney Royal Caribbean Cruise. The cruise was free for CFA members as a thank you for their enormous efforts in the recent bushfires.
“We’re looking forward to more memories in the brigade as Mr and Mrs Salinger.”
Photos by Morgan Fisher Photography
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