State Firefighter Championships
Last week I attended the NSWFB 2006 State Firefighter Championships in Port Macquarie. It was a productive and enjoyable week, and I was pleased to talk with firefighters from across the state and crews from Queensland, Victoria and New Zealand. Firefighters participated in 16 events. To better reflect modern firefighting, new competitions such as the ‘booster valve’ will be replacing historical competitions, such as hose reels and carts, which was run for the last time this year. It was also my pleasure to announce the team from 253 Casino as the new State Firefighter Champions, after they pipped the team from 105 Kelso in the last event to take the title by just one point. The crew from 405 Nowra also competed strongly, placing third. I would like to extend my congratulations to the organising committee from both the NSWFB and the Firefighter Championships Association. The week ran smoothly, with thousands of local residents, especially school children visiting the competition ground to participate in Fire ED and other community safety initiatives. The logistics behind the Championships are a mammoth task, and I would like to thank Garry Tant, Paul Sydenham and their teams who worked tirelessly to set up and maintain public information and fire safety displays, historic memorabilia, the competition track, and a fantastic display of fireworks. Well done and I look forward to the 2007 Championships season.
Class 3 pumpers
Prototypes for the next group of heavy pumpers (Class 3) based on a Scania chassis and Rosenbauer pump are under production at both Skilled Equipment Manufacturing Pty Ltd in Victoria and Varley Specialised Vehicles Pty Ltd in Newcastle. On advice from the Department of Commerce, NSWFB awarded a standing offer to both companies to produce the heavy pumpers starting with a prototype each.
The first of these is expected to be completed around March 2007. The first production heavy pumpers are expected to be ready for commissioning in late 2007. Over the course of the contract, we expect to order in excess of 60 heavy pumpers. The commissioning of new heavy pumpers will allow phasing out of the existing older SEV International pumpers still in use in the GSA and some regional areas. The NSW Government brought forward funding to enable the NSWFB to more quickly “retire” the Internationals.
Solomon Islands awards
I am proud to advise that Commissioner Michael Keelty APM of the Australian Federal Police has awarded the AFP Commissioner's Group Citation for Conspicuous Conduct to members of the Solomon Islands Fire Service for their efforts during the April riots in Honiara. The NSWFB has been helping to rebuild the Solomons Islands Fire Service as part of the Regional Assistance Mission -- Solomon Islands (RAMSI). The following NSWFB members received the award for their efforts at the fires that followed the riots:
Superintendent Thomas Milburn (Acting Chief Fire Officer)
Qualified Firefighter Peter Meyer
Senior Firefighter Michael Johnsen
Congratulations to Tom, Peter and Mick on their well deserved awards. Peter and Mick were in the Solomons to train airport firefighters when the riots occurred.
Smoke alarm grace period ends
I encourage fire stations to continue to spread the message that smoke alarms are now compulsory, particularly if you attend fire where no smoke alarm is present. Use the template media release to assist you.
Media Blitz pays dividends
On Wednesday it became an offence for property owners not to have smoke alarms in homes and other shared accommodation buildings where people sleep. As an organisation we have worked hard to spread the smoke alarm message in the community, and I would especially like to thank Zone Commanders, fire stations, Risk Management and Public Affairs for their efforts in this regard. The state-wide coverage has been phenomenal. It’s a testament to the regard in which the NSWFB is held by the media, particularly at the local level, that they responded so well to your requests to highlight the issue. We could not have “bought” the level of media coverage that ensued. Well done all.
Walk against Warming - Saturday 4 November
Many of you will have seen my email highlighting this important community event taking place tomorrow. Global warming threatens all of us, and events such as this highlight the community’s concern over the impacts that environmental change bring.
As firefighters we stand in the front line of the community’s defence against the potential impacts of global warming, such as increased risks of bushfires, extreme weather events, drought and much more, so we have a vested interest in taking part in community events such as this, doing what we can to combat global climate change.
If you and your family have not yet seen the movie “An Inconvenient Truth” featuring the Hon. Al Gore, I urge you to take your family along soon. I also urge you to visit www.walkagainstwarming.org and take part in the Walk against Warming nearest to you. My family and I will be, and I hope to see lots of Brigade staff participating.
Blue Mountains Zone Office Opens
This week I joined Minister Kelly at the official opening of the new Zone Control Office for Metro West 3, located in the refurbished historic old Katoomba Fire Station.
Covering the area from Penrith and Windsor across the Blue Mountains to Lithgow, the new zone office will improve the ability of the Zone Commander and staff to assist frontline firefighters. It also maintains the NSWFB link with the old Katoomba Fire station, which has housed firefighters defending the area since 1914. The Katoomba Brigade remains close by, having relocated into a new facility directly behind the old station in 2005.
I commend the work of both the Zone and Property Services. Their hard work has seen Superintendent Tony Grant and his MW3 team move into their new home in time for the bushfire danger period.
Reduced fire risk cigarettes
In conjunction with the development of an Australian Standard for reduced fire risk cigarettes, the Head of Public Health at the University of Sydney, Professor Simon Chapman, has organised a petition asking the community to call for the introduction of legislation making the standard mandatory. I encourage firefighters to consider signing the petition.
Read the intranet story for more detail or go straight to the link for the petition.
Handling metropolitan media requests for assistance
The NSWFB enjoys an honoured position of trust in the community, and it is only natural that organisations would seek to be associated with us to help promote their intitiative or cause. Over the past few months a number of metropolitan media outlets have approached individual stations to provide assistance with radio station promotions, charity fundraising work, media personality stunts and other activities.
While we welcome media attention, there will be times when we will need to say ‘No’ to, or put restrictions on, certain requests. Please refer all requests from metropolitan media, such as Sydney radio and TV stations, the Daily Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald and Sunday papers, to the Public Affairs and Communications Strategy Unit (PACSU). If you’re approached by the metropolitan media, take their details and pass them on to PACSU on 9265 2907, which will follow up with the media on your behalf.
RUMOUR MILL
Rumour: Why is it that all specialist positions have their title on their epaulettes for example Hazmat, Comms and Rescue, but Aerials which is also a specialist position does not have this option? It would make sense and would help Inspectors at larger incidents.
Response: A number of years ago there was a proliferation of specialist epaulettes, with no central approval or direction. The only approved epaulettes now are Rescue, to identify accredited rescue operators to Police and other services at rescue scenes; Hazmat, so that Incident Controllers could rapidly source specialist advice at dangerous incidents; and Communications, so that Incident Control Vehicle operators would not be tasked with firefighting roles at incident scenes. From a practical perspective, it was not considered that aerial operators, who will be with their appliance at all times, needed to be specially identified on the fireground. We do want to avoid proliferation of special epaulettes as it can convey to the media and public that firefighters are not the multi-skilled professionals that they are.
INCIDENTS
Third Alarm Structure Fire, Strathfield
Firefighter saving lives far from home
Fourth Alarm Structure Fire, Castle Hill - 24 October 2006
EVENTS
Firie’s help doesn’t end with the fire
Newcastle’s first RescuED
Promoting safety at the Central Coast Water Festival
Lessons learned from Bankstown exercise
COMMISH’S CORNER
Commissioner’s e-mail: Commissioner@fire.nsw.gov.au
Cora Sarmiento, Commish’s PA: 9265 2930
PACSU: fax 9265 2882
Commish’s Corner Rumour Mill: 9265 2627
To contribute a story to the intranet, please contact Public Affairs Officers: (West) 9265 2613, (South) 9265 2802 or (North) 9265 2631