Vale Alan ‘Pa’ Eley

By Andrew Mole

Jan 5, 2023

Gone but not forgotten: Jodie Griffin, Alan Eley and Sal Spark at the 2022 Echuca CFA open day. Photo by Martin Flanagan

Alan “Pa” Eley — the man born to be a firefighter and an Echuca legend — has died, aged 93.

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Alan was born in the old Pakenham St fire station, where his parents were the station keepers, and he would go on to devote a lifetime of service to his community through the CFA and Metropolitan Fire Brigade.

His service was recognised with an Order of Australia, National Emergency Medal and Australian Fire Service Medal.

And while he might have “retired” more than 35 years ago, Alan still dedicated much of the past 30 years to working as Echuca’s volunteer fire investigator — a community service further recognised with life membership of the Victorian Association of Fire Investigators (VAFI).

He was still fulfilling that role with an investigation in recent weeks.

The humble great-great-grandfather said at the time of that award he was more “embarrassed” than anything else, even though he had investigated more than 550 fires in his retirement role.

In a Riverine Herald interview in 2019, Alan said: “I asked the (VAFI) president why, and he told me: ‘we think of you as a role model as you show investigators that once they reach retirement age, they don’t have to stop’.”

When asked what kept him going, after officially joining his family in the CFA as a 14-year-old, the veteran firefighter laughed, and replied: “I suppose I’m not a person to sit still and it keeps my mind active in today’s world”.

Full details about Alan’s funeral service will be released early next week.