Off-duty Station Officer helps save family
On Wednesday morning, off-duty Station Officer Carlos Henry undertook
an extraordinary act of bravery to save a young child from a house fire.
I am immensely proud of Carlos, as we all should be, as his actions
exemplify the finest traditions of our service.
Station Officer Henry, who is based at 19 Silverwater, was dropping his
children at school when he saw the smoke. After being forced back by
heat and flames inside the house, Carlos climbed up to the second story
of the burning house and entered a smoke filled bedroom without PPE or
breathing apparatus to rescue the child and pass him to the police
officers.
Firefighters from 86 Penrith, 102 Regentville, 77 St Marys, 78 Dunheved
and 63 Blacktown attended the fire. I have requested a report on the
fire with a view to formally recognising the outstanding efforts of
Station Officer Henry, the child's father, and the police officers.
Read the full story on the intranet.
Executive and regional restructure update
Our two new Deputy Commissioners commenced duty on Monday. John Benson
AFSM is the new Deputy Commissioner Emergency Management, overseeing the
Metropolitan, Regional and Specialised Operations Divisions. Ken
Thompson AFSM is the new Deputy Commissioner Capability and Support,
overseeing Risk Management, Information Technology, and Logistics
Support Divisions.
The next stage of the restructure will be the appointment of Assistant
Commissioners to new portfolios, including the new positions of Director
Metropolitan Operations and Director Regional Operations. When this
occurs the current three regions will cease to exist, with transitional
arrangements in place until further notice. The plan detailing interim
arrangements for staff currently attached to the three Region Offices
has been posted on the intranet.
The new Zone structure will commence on 15 September. An In Order will
detail the changes involved. A list of fire stations within each zone,
as well as maps, can also be accessed from the intranet.
In other restructure news, a project team is currently being formed to
reshape the way in which HR, finance and administrative support is
provided to the new structure. There will be extensive consultation with
staff and their unions regarding any proposed changes. I will provide
regular updates of the project team's work and remind staff that
information will continue to be posted on the intranet.
Please join me in congratulating the new appointees and providing them
will all the support you can as we face the challenges of shaping the
Brigade to lead us into the future.
John Anderson's farewell
Tonight I will attend the farewell dinner of Deputy Commissioner John
Anderson. John retired last Friday, but we didn't let him go quietly.
The festivities began with a morning tea at head office and ended with a
guard of honour at No 1. station City of Sydney where he was surprised
by his wife, Bev, and daughter Tracey in the afternoon. John has made a
huge contribution to the NSWFB during a career that has spanned 40
years. Fortunately for the people of NSW, John's retirement is in name
only because the state will continue to benefit from his expertise when
he takes up the position as Chair of the State Emergency Management
Committee.
Road Accident Rescue Champions
A crew of six from 15 Burwood has been crowned as Australasia's best
rescue team at the Australian Road Accident Rescue Championships held in
Adelaide on 23-24 July. SO Clayton Allison, SO Wayne Rush, and
Firefighters Mark Bradford, Brett Johnson, Dean Broadwood and Paul
Hughes represented the NSWFB at the championships.
Well done to the team for achieving the following fantastic results:
1st in Controlled Release, 1st in Entrapped Release, 2nd in Immediate
Release, Best Technical Team, Best Captain (Clayton Allison), runner-up
Best Medic (Wayne Rush).
Arncliffe Fire Station Opening
On Wednesday 26 July, I attended the official opening of Arncliffe Fire
Station. I was joined by Tony Kelly, the Minister for Emergency Services
and Frank Sartor, the Minister for Planning and MP for Rockdale, in
welcoming the Arncliffe firefighters to their new station. Thank you to
Zone Commander Superintendent Doug Williams and Station Officer Stuart
Martin for making the day a great success.
Recruit graduation
On Thursday 20 July I attended the graduation of class 14/2006 at the
State Training College. During the graduation a number of presentations
were made to retiring Deputy Commissioner John Anderson. The new Deputy
Commissioners, John Benson and Ken Thompson, were also presented with
their rank insignia. The graduating firefighters started at fire
stations recently.Read the full story on the intranet.
August fire safety campaign - kitchen fire safety
As we head into the last month of winter, it is important to remind the
community of fire dangers in the home. Many people are unaware of the
risks involved in cooking, something we do on a daily basis, however
kitchen fires account for almost half of all home fires in NSW.
Appropriately, this month's fire safety topic is kitchen fire safety.
Materials have been prepared to help you promote the campaign through
your local media. Please see the story on the intranet for further
information and campaign materials.
Qualified Firefighter to Senior Firefighter arrangements
Following extensive discussions with the FBEU, agreement has been
reached regarding progression from Qualified Firefighter to Senior
Firefighter. As outlined in the Award, promotion to Senior Firefighter
is subject to a minimum of 72 months' service from the date of
commencement as a Recruit Firefighter and satisfactorily completing
training competencies detailed in today's In Orders.
Children and Young People and Fire Offences
The issue of children lighting fires is a concern for the community and
obviously a concern for the NSWFB. AIRS data indicates that around 10%
of fires are lit by children. Many of these are accidental fires with no
malicious intent, however, a number of them are deliberate. All require
a NSWFB response and have the potential to cause injury or property
loss. Community Risk Management, in collaboration with NSW Police, has
developed a new resource entitled "Children and Young People and Fire
Offences" to help firefighters educate and inform the community of the
potential legal consequences of children aged 10 years and over lighting
fires. There are two versions available for downloading: the basic
version for parents and the public, which is available on our internet
site; and the full version for firefighters which is available on the
intranet. For enquiries contact the Intervention and Fire Awareness
Program Coordinator on (02) 9742 7404 or 0409 129 647.
International exchange update
It is with much sadness that the NSWFB says goodbye to FF Chad Fiegehen
from the Brampton Fire Service in Ontario, Canada. Chad, who has been on
exchange with us for the past 12 months flew home on 25 July, and we
welcome back SF Dave "Gov" Simms who has been working in Brampton.
We presently have two other firefighters with us on exchange from
Canada. Working at 22 Stn Leichhardt, D Platoon is FF Richard Whittome
from the Delta Fire and Emergency Service in British Columbia, Canada.
Richard is exchanging with SF Chris Benjamin from that station. Most
recently arrived we have FF Chris Minor from the Ottawa Fire Service,
Ontario, Canada, who is on exchange for SF Kevin Smith from 31 Station
Busby B Platoon.
As we say goodbye to Chad and wish him a safe journey home, we would
also like to welcome Richard and Chris and look forward to catching up
and exchanging stories.
Variety 'Brookvale to Bundaberg' Bash 2006
On Sunday, I had the honour of being the official starter of the famous
NSW Variety Bash. This year teams, including Team Excalibur with members
from the NSWFB and RFS, are driving from Brookvale to Bundaberg, raising
money for children with special needs. Team Excalibur raised nearly
$30,000 before the Bash, to donate to Variety, The Children's Charity.
Good luck to NSWFB Retained Firefighters Trevor Lang and Vance Lang from
359 station Lawson who are on board an F100 truck. The other part of
Team Excalibur is an old Dodge bushfire tanker, carrying a crew of four
RFS representatives. NSWFB CFU Coordinator South Karl Duesing and an RFS
employee are supporting the team in a 4WD vehicle. The bash is expected
to finish at Bundaberg, Queensland, on Wednesday 2 August 2006. Read
more about the NSW Variety Bash 2006 on the intranet.
RUMOUR MILL
Rumour: Is it true that the NSWFB wants to replace the Darlinghurst
Varley Pumper with Super Pumper 1 - which is just as old as Pump 4 and
spends more time off the road than on; wouldn't it make more sense to
put a new pump in the 2nd busiest station in Sydney?
Response: The 2006/07 appliance replacement program has identified 4
Station Darlinghurst for a new Class 3 pumper. There are no plans
between now and then to move any appliances from COS to 4 Station
Darlinghurst.
INCIDENTS
NSWFB and RFS work together at fatal Dural house fire
What a mess! Truckload of groceries causes havoc
Smoke alarm saves Ingleburn couple from deadly blaze
Fatal car accident at Cessnock
Fire at Cabramatta cleaning business
Firefighters rescue woman from burning unit
Narromine hazmat incident
EVENTS
It's nearly that time of the year again - City2Surf
Frontline Tourers Ride
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