Mount Mee RFBs district is 88 square kilometres (22,000 acres) of the northern tip of the D’Aguilar Range with a peak elevation of 505 metres. The slopes are wickedly steep and during fire season turn to powder. The mountain range plateau is covered in rainforest and boggy meadows. Hills are covered in natural springs and many tracks were originally made for horses. A great place for beef cattle and dairy cattle and home to approx. 500 people in 250 dwellings ranging from two urban settlements to many isolated farms. There are two main types of fires in our district; relatively simple grassfires and difficult ravine / slope scrub fires that burn for weeks threatening to pop out with a wind change. Despite being able to see Brisbane, we are a fairly isolated place due to our topography with support from QAS and FRS typically 45 minutes away. Our community is also affected by landslips, trees down and storms. We also have the Mount Mee section of the D’Aguilar National Park to support for rescues and fires.
All this means we are a brigade that has to be able to provide the first response for a wide range of incidents from limited and vague information. This means a specialised vehicle fleet built for specific tasks. The QFD standard range of committee-built wonders don’t work here. We decided to buy a support vehicle after our knees told us there had to be a better way getting around a fire ground to get intelligence and general command roles, with climate control air conditioning preferably. Due to our terrain and random tracks taking a larger vehicle like a 51 to a fire is a calculated choice and intelligence on what we are attending is critical to knowing what can get there, be effective and get back. We looked at what other brigades were doing, our brigade bank accounts, what we did on our farms and our basic requirements;
We quickly ruled out any form of dual cab utility and ATV type vehicles. ATVs were particularly ruled out due to being slow, restricted registration, required specialised training and complicated transmissions. The idea of having to trailer one to a fire is laughable to us. After all was said only one vehicle met our criteria; the Suzuki Jimny. And then we all laughed at how this answer had been staring us in the face the whole time. Our neighbouring brigade Ocean View RFB has a beloved earlier model Jimny and the second officer has a $500 Suzuki Vitara on his farm that refuses to die. It also came to our attention that QPWS compliance officers now have 5 door Jimny’s to carry out their duties.
Looking into the specs on the current model JB74 3 door Jimny it only had a payload of 375 kgs. This prompted a deep dive into GVM upgrades and certification to give us a healthy payload capacity once modifications were fitted. We landed on the Ironman 4x4 350 kg GVM upgrade kit that also gave a 2” suspension lift. After a ring around of dealers as to who was working with Ironman 4x4 we landed at Norris Suzuki in Redcliffe. Norris was a standout in that they employ a staff member to purely oversee the builds of customers Jimny’s. We put together a specification list with the dealer, obtained a quote and then attempted to engage early the QFD to deafening silence apart from the offer of an ATV which we rejected. Expecting this we carried on. We drove GVM and tyre upgraded 3 and 5 door Jimnys on a 4wd course through the dealer before obtaining the loan of a 3 door for a weekend to check it fitted into our shed and to be test driven on our terrain. We confirmed that the 3 door automatic top of the line JLX model was what we wanted. The engine had been upgraded to a 1.5 in the JB74 model, the transmission remained the traditional torque converter type and the live axles walked over any type of terrain without electronic fuss. When putting the project to Brigade vote we did so with the loaner Jimny sitting in our shed for our members to see and understand. This is the bare minimum we expect on how a vehicle should be taken from concept, to prototype, tested and into production.
What then transpired over the next 6 months was a back and forth email tennis with the QFD with every possible delaying and distracting technique deployed by the department. After reaching the point where the dealer could no longer hold stock for us the second officer signed a personal holding contract to secure a vehicle and we appealed to our state member the Hon Andrew Powell MP to cut through the nonsense. It was sad watching bureaucrats tie themselves in irrelevant knots to the point we had to learn Australian Design Rules and NCAP technical details and fight them sentence by sentence and win. The green light came through 6 hours before the second officer would have owned a 3 door Jimny. With the contract transferred to the Brigade, it was swiftly paid from legacy funds to avoid any more new account games. After all the QFD imposed drama we didn’t change one damn thing on Jimny. We remain eternally thankful to Andrew for his assistance as otherwise the email tennis would still be occurring.
We ordered Jimny with steel bar work, 9000lb winch, 2” suspension lift, upgraded wheels and all terrain tyres and a roof rack platform. To this we have added full bucket type mats, canvas seat covers, battery isolator, scene lighting, maxtrax on the roof and a 41 spec OzLED emergency lighting package. A big plastic space case lives in the back normally carrying a first aid kit, water, a battery chainsaw and PPE, small road cones and torches. This is removable to allow the rear two folded seats to be used whenever needed to move people or different cargo. It is surprisingly roomy in the second row. We will be further adding rock sliders, dual battery system and recovery points due to our usable payload. A department supplied GWN vehicle radio is also enroute (allegedly). For the livery we came up with the basic scheme and then gave RA Bell of Narangba artistic licence to produce a stunning outcome. They really enjoyed the project as much as we did their work.
To say we are happy with the end result is an understatement. An increasingly common line around the brigade is “send in the Jimny”. The only concern we have with it is that it provides an unrealistic experience for off-roading to new members in that it turns difficult situations into non-events. In five months it has proven itself at two major incidents, has attended five incidents, three fire warden inspections and has run 3000 kms in support of brigade activities. The first time we sent Jimny on a job was at the Pedwell Road fire (30 September to 6th October) it had no emergency lights so used the hazards and no radio but we needed its capability. On the first day with the IC in the passenger seat we mapped the fire ground, determined tracks that could be driven by 41s, moved UAV operators and equipment, escorted a bulldozer to the fire line and provided a sector command point. In the midst of all this, another fire call came through and Jimny was sent with the fire warden to run that fire which ended up being stopped with rake hoes in steep terrain. Our project was to complete Jimny by end June 2025 but with QFD delays still ongoing we will claim practical completion in January 2026.
We have written this article on the invitation of the RFBAQ to provide the background to our Jimny 81, the triumphs, processes and the frustrations involved and to provide an overview of a vehicle that has generated a lot of interest. We stress that this vehicle was built specifically for our Brigade’s terrain and district and that one size of vehicle doesn’t fit all brigades. There are several RFSQ senior officers who have understood this project and greatly assisted us with it. We thank them for their contribution. In general, the QFD interface aspect of this project has been irrelevant and delaying. Brigades have a long and proud history of producing vehicles relevant to their operations and this is incompatible with the QFD corporatist culture of late. We believe that a comprehensive set of clear specifications based on national vehicle codes should be required for brigade-built vehicles to eliminate the opinion-based whims of certain bridge troll staff who unless appeased seriously gum up the gear train of progress whilst adding no value. In the interests of disclosure, Jimny 81 has cost approximately $55,000 excluding GST and when complete is forecast to be $59,000 ex GST. We note this is ~55% the cost of the latest trailer only QFD ATVs.
Mount Mee RFB
Checking shed clearances with loan vehicle – January 2025
Jimny sitting in the dealers back lot – June 2025
Pedwell Road fire – September 2025
Santa run – December 2025