The Wattle Range Country Fire Service Group will split in two this month and have one new group officer and one veteran leader at the helm.


Prominent community volunteer Chris Mathias will oversee the 11 brigades which will form the Millicent-based Woakwine Group.


Mr Mathias has been involved with the Millicent CFS Brigade since moving to Millicent around a decade ago.


He was previously one of the four deputy group officers in the Wattle Range CFS Group.


His other community interests are the Millicent RSL, Wattle Range Suicide Prevention Network and the Millicent Mens Shed.


His challenger in a secret ballot was fellow deputy group officer and Glencoe volunteer fire-fighter John Critchley.


The 11 brigade captains held a secret ballot to decide who would take on the top job.


The remaining 11 brigades will become the Penola-based MacKillop Group with long-serving group officer Fred Stent continuing unopposed in the role.


Mr Stent has previously been a Wattle Range deputy group officer and Penola Group group officer.


‘Woakwine’ is an Aboriginal name meaning ‘elbow or bent arm’ and refers to the shape of the large watercourse near the Woakwine Homestead at Beachport.


St Mary MacKillop co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph at Penola in 1867 and became Australia’s first Saint.


Following the split which takes effect on August 31, the Wattle Range CFS Group will lose its status as the largest CFS group in South Australia which it has held for the past 27 


years.


Talks about the restructuring of the 600-strong volunteer organisation have been under way for a number of years.


The split into east and west will not follow exactly the old council boundaries.


The current Wattle Range CFS Group was formed in 1997 at the same time as the former Millicent, Beachport and Penola councils merged to form the Wattle Range Council.