Historical information

At the time of the 1982-83 bushfire season FCV firefighters wore either navy blue issue overalls or their own clothing, generally a checked flannel shirt and jeans.

Uncomfortable safety boots and hardhats were issued.

The CFA had switched from white overalls to their distinctive yellow kit by 1983.

In about 1980, in a far-sighted corporate move for the time, Alan Threader, who was the Chairman of the FCV, established a departmental safety committee, which he personally chaired.

The Committee, among other things, wanted to upgrade fire safety clothing.

Alan also initiated a radical colour idea after a work trip to the UK in about 1981 and brought home a small sample swatch.

Alan believed that the now distinctive bright yellow-green was a good colour contrast to the Victorian bush which is a blue-green hue.

Trevor Brown from Stores Branch scored the task to make the change and letters were sent to the UK seeking information about the pigment.

The FCV worked with the Commonwealth Dyers Association and Cushen Clothing to replicate the shade on cotton drill, which presented darker when it was treated with the flame-retardant chemical, Proban.

The first of the new Kermit Suits were rolled-out in late 1984, and the stylish colour was initially registered and patented to the Department.
But it's also fair to say that the new gaudy shade of apparel wasn’t universally popular with staff.

The lime green overalls were an Australian first, and forest agencies in other states followed a few years later.

In the early 1990s, armed with a pair of dressmaker’s scissors, the baggy one-piece Kermit boilersuits were tailored by Peter Billing from Fire Protection Branch and Trevor Brown in conjunction with the family-owned business, Top Level Workwear, which saw numerous enhancements and prototypes.

The two-piece Kermit suits were available in the late 1990s after many years of argy-bargy and complaints from field firefighters.

Physical description

Protective overalls

Inscriptions & markings

Two types - early FCV (c 1983) and later CNR (1992)