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The Koolpinyah Volunteer Bushfire Brigade was originally established in July 1988 in the Darwin rural area as a volunteer brigade of the NT Bushfires Council. For six years until 1994 bushfire brigade members worked interactively with the brigades of the NT Fire Service in the Humpty Doo and Koolpinyah response areas.  Bushfire Volunteers Competition Day at Berry Springs - 18 April 1993
Koolpinyah Bushfire Brigade Captain Trevor Tennant (under vehicle),
and members Craig Bell (standing) and Adrian Greenaway (kneeling)
competing in the tyre changing event in the Brigade's yellow fire truck
Due to the continued urbanisation of the area and a resultant decrease in the requirement for large area land management strategies, the Bushfires Council and the NT Fire Service agreed to include the Koolpinyah (now Herbert) area into the Northern Territory Fire Service Fire District, for three basic reasons:
A meeting of interested local residents was held at the Humpty Doo and Rural Golf Club on Pioneer Drive. At the meeting the NT Fire Service informed attendees exactly what was proposed for the area. The proposal was discussed, and a motion to accept it and form a new volunteer fire brigade was voted and carried.
On 16 March 1994 the establishment of both the Yirrkala and Koolpinyah Volunteer Fire Brigades were formally authorised by the inclusion of a notice in the NT Government Gazette. The inclusion of the Koolpinyah Fire District within the control of the NTFS extended the NTFS Fire District to over 600 square kilometres. At this time within the district there were three fire stations manned by permanent full-time firefighters, and six volunteer fire brigades. They were Darwin, Casuarina and Palmerston Fire Stations, and Bees Creek, Howard Springs, Humpty Doo, Koolpinyah, McMinns Lagoon and Virginia Fire Brigades.
A public meeting was held at the Humpty Doo and Rural Golf Club on 13 April 1994 to form the Koolpinyah Volunteer Fire Brigade. The meeting was attended by two local politicians, Mrs Noel Padgham-Purich and Mr Terry McCarthy. Also present were Superintendents Tony Meakin and Hector Evans and Station Commander Tony Barker of the NT Fire Service, Humpty Doo Volunteer Fire Brigade Captain Kevin Collins and Vice Captain John Hore, Koolpinyah Bushfire Brigade Captain Trevor Tennant and his wife Karen, and twenty-seven others.
Tony Meakin chaired the meeting, and opened with discussions about the role of the NT Fire Service in the area. The subjects of burning off, permits, fire breaks, dry season smoke and cleaning up properties were also discussed. Meakin then closed the discussion, and encouraged those that were interested in forming the Koolpinyah Volunteer Fire Brigade to fill out registration forms. Seventeen applications were received from the following foundation members of the Brigade:
The Brigade Management Committee was formed by volunteers to the positions, with an election for the position of Captain. The following persons formed the inaugural committee:
The Koolpinyah Fire Station, a nine metre by six metre shed of all-steel construction, was erected at 563 Pioneer Drive, on the corner of the private access road to the Golf Club, which was later named Norm Lane. The official opening of the Fire Station took place on 16 June 1994.
During the period following the re-establishment of the Brigade as part of the NT Fire Service a degree of angst existed amongst many members of the original Bushfire Brigade. Because many ex-Bushfire volunteers quite understandably felt as though the new Fire Brigade had simply "taken over" in the area, there were occasional confrontations which at times became physical. For a while following the establishment of the new Brigade, both brigade's vehicles were still operating in the same area completely independently of each other. Some residents, in support of the original Bushfire Brigade, would make arrangements for the conducting of burns by the ex-Bushfire members without advising the new Fire Brigade of the activity. This had the obvious result of the Fire Brigade volunteers responding to an emergency call only to find a controlled burn being undertaken by the ex-Bushfire volunteers! Time however is a great healer, and everything finally settled down in the area.
On the night of 14 January 1999, an adult and two juveniles entered the fire station through an unlocked front door and found the keys to the Toyota Land Cruiser grassfire unit, which they commandeered and drove away to the Howard Springs pine forest. The vehicle was then driven to Gunn Point, with the offenders taking turns in driving. They camped out overnight at Gunn Point, and drove the vehicle back to the pine forest the following day. While returning to the pine forest, the vehicle became stuck in a creek bed and could not be driven out. Two of the offenders then took a jerrycan of petrol from the fire truck and poured the fuel over both the exterior of the vehicle and inside the cabin. They then laid two trails of petrol from the vehicle and each lit one of the fuel trails with a cigarette lighter. The fire truck was destroyed in the subsequent inferno.
A search was conducted for the vehicle the following day without success, despite heavy media coverage. On 16 January the Police Air Wing offered the use of their aircraft to search the rural area for the vehicle. Koolpinyah VFB Captain Rafael Perez accompanied the pilot, and the unit was finally located in the Howard Springs pine forest, from where the vehicle was recovered.
  The dead (once-red) GFU as found in the Howard Springs Pine Forest
In response to the news coverage Breakthrough Communications in Palmerston, as distributors for Motorola Communications, generously donated a new Motorola communications radio for the replacement fire truck.
In relation to that incident, two juveniles were dealt with in the Juvenile Court as minors. The main offender pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court to unlawfully entering the Koolpinyah Fire Station at night with intent to steal, and sentenced to six months imprisonment. He pleaded guilty to the unlawful use of the Fire Tender, and causing damage to the value of $55,000. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment in respect of that offence, both sentences being ordered to be served concurrently. The total period of imprisonment imposed upon the main offender was therefore twenty four months but was directed to be suspended after he had served eight months. He was also placed on a three-year ‘good behaviour’ bond.
At a Special General Meeting of the Brigade held at the residence of (then) Station Commander Dave Pettit and his wife Jan in Pioneer Drive on 22 July, the replacement fire truck was delivered to the Koolpinyah Volunteer Fire Brigade by the Honourable Chris Lugg, MLA. After more than six months without a dedicated grassfire unit, Koolpinyah 55, like the phoenix rising from the ashes of its predecessor, was reborn.
Successive Captains of the Koolpinyah Bushfire Brigade were:
Successive Captains of the Koolpinyah Volunteer Fire Brigade have been:
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