| Roles held: | Captain 1988 – 2001 |
| 1st Lieutenant 1984 – 1988 | |
| 2nd Lieutenant 1980 – 1984 | |
| 4th Lieutenant 1978 – 1980 | |
| Firefighter | |
| Years of service: | 29 years |
Bill grew up in Inverleigh near Geelong on a dairy farm. He started work at the oil refinery in Geelong. When the new BP refinery was being built at Crib Point, Bill applied for a job as a Maintenance Rigger. He moved to Balnarring in 1968. As part of the job at BP, Bill was involved in the fire crew for the refinery, which included BA training and Petrol Fire attack etc. He married into the Wright family in 1972 and came to live in Shoreham.
Upon arrival, he joined the Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade in 1972. During this period many fires started in the Dandenongs and, whenever Shoreham was in a strike team, it always started at the head of the convoy and ended up a slow last, because of the old Austin truck. On one occasion it was suggested the water be unloaded to increase the speed.
Bill became 2nd Lieutenant in 1980 and 1st Lieutenant in 1984. In 1983, the brigade was called to the Dandenongs on “Ash Wednesday”. The tanker remained in the area for several days when crew changes were available. Bill was elected Captain in July 1988. After “Ash Wednesday”, communications and crew safety became a priority for the CFA. Radios were upgraded and better protection was provided for the crews on the back of trucks. About this time, training was stepped up and courses had to be done for firefighters to be assessed to use most equipment. The call out procedure was upgraded and firefighters were issued with pagers making response time quicker and more efficient.
Some of the incidents that come to note since Bill became Captain are :
- Large Coolstore fire at Red Hill, November 1990
- Fire at Blue Moon Red Hill, April 1990
- Several house fires – fortunately, all were saved by the brigade.
In 1992, two members of the brigade went to assist with the bushfires in NSW. Victoria sent many tankers to NSW and were widely responsible for bringing the fire under control.
The 1995 Christmas party was interrupted by the outbreak of a fire in Green’s Bush. For the first time, Shoreham’s training was needed when the fire turned on the truck and they had to go into survival mode.
In 1997, the brigade assisted with the fires at Mt Martha. When mopping up on the second day, they were called to a fire roaring up Arthur’s Seat. At this fire, Bill was flank commander and in charge of stopping the fire at Waterfall Gully Road and Purves Road. Fortunately, the fire was contained at this point.
Over the 27 years since Bill joined the Brigade many changes have taken place. The Brigade members comprise a very well trained and competent group handling a diverse range of tasks from motor vehicle accidents, assisting at road rescue, storm damage, as well as fighting fires.
By Judy Kleiss (wife of Bill Kleiss)
An extract from Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade, 50th Anniversary Booklet (1999)
To learn more about Bill and his interesting time with the Shoreham CFA in his own words, please refer to his personal recollections entitled 27 Years as a Member of the Fire Brigade written for the 1999 50th Anniversary Booklet.