25/03/2026
Vale John Bell.
It is with great sadness that we share that one of our brigade members, John Bell, passed away on Saturday 21st of March.
John has been officially a member of Palmwoods Rural Fire Brigade for well over 30 years… and unofficially for even more. As a community member John would turn up with his tractor and 500 litre water spray unit on the back and offer up his services. John was always on hand to help out and sometimes the dog would come along for the ride too.
During his tenure, he took on the role of 2nd officer… which is a pivotal role in the onboarding and welcoming the new members through the brigade and assisting with the running of the brigade.
John took on the role as Education Officer, and took the message of fire safety, too Palmwoods State School… a program that is still running to this day. Each year, John would talk with the grade 5 students about fire danger and also take the children out to set the fire indicator board that was beside the oval, near the Lander Shute road turn off. Fires over the school holidays, dropped dramatically in the Palmwoods Community from this work.
When active fire fighting no longer was viable for John, he continued his education work… but also shared a number of stories with brigade members… where we would sit and listen in awe.
John, thank you for your service to Palmwoods Rural Fire Brigade, the Queensland Fire Department… but more importantly the Palmwoods and surrounding communities.
To his wife Janice, sons Andrew & Robert and grandchildren Cooper, Sebastian, Dakota and Zara we send our love and condolences.
Rest in Peace John, we have it from here.