The members of Victoria's only all-Indigenous fire brigade are leading a dramatic shift in community attitudes towards fire.

The Lakes Tyers Aboriginal Trust Country Fire Authority (CFA) unit was started 18 years ago by a group of women who were fed up with intentionally lit fires threatening the township.

Charmaine Sellings, a Kurnai woman, said the catalyst was when a house burnt down because the nearest fire truck was 45 minutes away.

"Before we first started we were getting fires every week. We'd have the trucks coming in and it got to the point they were getting sick of it too," Ms Sellings said.

"After the last bad incident, I stood up and said we're going to get a crew together."

Now, intentionally lit fires at the community are rare, with the brigade's main focus on bushfires and campfires left behind by illegal campers.

Ms Sellings said the creation of the fire brigade had made the Lake Tyers Trust a safer place to live.

"Once we all got the training, the fires literally stopped.

"If there were fires, we had people knocking on our door. Even though we had pagers, they'd be knocking on our door, 'There's a fire out the bush' you know."

A Country Fire Authority brigade was started to combat regular fires at the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust, in eastern Victoria. ( ABC Gippsland: Amber Irving-Guthrie )

Protecting the community and cultural heritage

The Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust, known as Bung Yarnda, is a self-governing Aboriginal community at the site of the former Lake Tyers Mission in East Gippsland.

The Gunaikurnai country is home to dozens of culturally significant sites, including scarred trees and middens.

The fire brigade is now playing an important role educating other crews in eastern Victoria about the importance of recognising cultural history and traditional sites.

Ms Sellings said it had been well received.

"There are communities, there is cultural history, there is background to the lands where they're going to fight fires, like in the bush," she said.

"In one spot there's 179 artefacts in the ground. We had one of the tankers coming down the hill, I knew where it was going to go straight for and I stood in front it.

"That truck stopped, they got out, ready to say what are you doing? When I said you can't drive over this area here, they understood straight away that it was cultural and they drove around it."

The brigade consists of Ms Sellings, captain Rhonda Thorpe, Nina Mullet, who joined as a 16-year-old, and its newest and only male member, Julian "Tiny" Edwards.

He joined five years ago, having been inspired by the work the women were doing.

"[The fire problem] would probably go back to the way it was if the CFA left, and that's not good," Mr Edwards said.

Ms Mullet's daughter was born shortly after the Lake Tyers Trust CFA was founded.

She said she was proud her children were growing up around the brigade.

The Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust fire brigade teaches other firefighters about the region's cultural heritage. ( ABC Gippsland: Nicole Asher )

Push for more diversity in fire brigades

The CFA has recognised the importance of improving diversity across its network.

The assistant chief fire officer for the south-east region, Trevor Owen, said communities had to be represented by their brigades.

"The CFA is made up of some 1,220 brigades," he said.

"It's great to have local community interest in their local brigade because they know their own local community and the members within that.

"[Lake Tyers Trust] is a really encouraging and successful brigade for us."

The fire brigade has faced the same problems as volunteer organisations around the country — a difficulty finding new and younger members.

Ms Sellings said she was looking for someone to train with the hope they would eventually take on her role or become captain.

"You're out there, you're saving assets, you're saving lives and you go home happy,' she said.