It is fitting that retired homicide investigator Charlie Bezzina will be the guest speaker at the Altona SES 30th anniversary dinner.
Over the years, volunteers of the Altona unit have helped the homicide squad on unenviable tasks like searching the Brooklyn tip for body parts in 2001 and trying to find evidence to stop serial killer Paul Denyer terrorising the suburb of Frankston in 1993.
Five founding members – Craig MacCallum, Leigh Hardinge, Alfred Pelns, Alan Tankard and Kay Stirling– remain with the SES unit, which was formed after a 1982 storm that killed two people and injured 20.
Since the unit’s inception, volunteers have given more than 152,400 hours of their time to help residents of Hobsons Bay and the wider community.
The biggest local crisis since the fatal 1982 storm was the recent windstorm that caused widespread building damage and felled trees across the city. Between September 26 and October 6, Altona SES received 342 calls for help from around Hobsons Bay.
Altona volunteers have also helped at the 1987 and 1993 Maribyrnong River floods, a 1995 Werribee train accident and 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.
