Review
of Ambulance Service of NSW
By now I am sure that
you are all aware that the recent review into the Ambulance Service of
NSW recommended that Ambulance rescue services should be transferred
to the NSWFB. It is disappointing that remarks that were disparaging
toward firefighters and the NSWFB have been made by a few of our
colleagues in other emergency services, however I know that such
statements are not reflective of the majority view. Last week I made a
submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Management and
Operations of the Ambulance Service of NSW and I have also written to
the Editor of the Newcastle Herald regarding comments by ambulance
union officials about firefighters which appeared in an article last
Saturday. I will continue to respond to any unfair or false claims
made about the NSWFB and the skills firefighters. I must emphasise
however, that the recommendation has not been accepted by Government
at this stage and is subject to consultation. It is ultimately a
decision for the Government and the Minister for Health as to whether
or not rescue will be transferred to the NSWFB.
NSWFB
to train Indonesian Police Forensic Services Group in fire
investigation
After a request to me
from Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty,
Insp Bob Alexander from the NSWFB�s Fire Investigations and
Research Unit will depart today for
Indonesia
to train officers from the Indonesian Police Forensic Services Group
in fire investigation techniques. The two-week course, which will be
conducted jointly with the AFP, will be held at
Semarang
in
Central Java
. The purpose-built training centre has re-burnable structures that
were developed specifically for training in fire investigation. This
initiative once again highlights the expertise of the NSWFB in fire
investigation � skills which are recognised both nationally and
internationally.
August
Fire Safety Campaign � Kitchen Fire Safety
This
month�s fire safety topic is Kitchen Fire Safety, so if you
haven�t already, I encourage you to start contacting your local
media to highlight the potential dangers of kitchen fires and ways
your local residents can minimise the risk of a fire starting in the
kitchen. A media release template has been developed to help your fire
station deliver these important kitchen fire safety messages. Access
the template and read more about the 2008 Kitchen Fire Safety Campaign
here.
2nd
Alarm nut factory fire at Kogarah
At 0749 hours on
Wednesday 30 July crews from 21 Kogarah, 29 Arncliffe, 20 Hurstville,
48 Mortdale and 52 Campsie responded to a 2nd Alarm fire in
the Fadoulis
chocolate nut factory on the
Princess Hwy
in Kogarah. Crews arrived within five minutes to find a fire in the
roof area of a two level brick building measuring 8m x 8m. Crews
quickly contained the fire but were unable to attack the seat of the
fire because it occurred in the area where power was connected to the
building. Two lanes of northbound traffic were blocked and the NSW
Police were on the scene for traffic management. When the power was
disconnected the fire was extinguished two lines of 38mm hose. Damage
was confined to ducting, and 10 people were evacuated with no injuries
reported.
3rdAlarm
fire at Rookwood Crematorium
At 1021 hours on
Wednesday 30 July, crews from 30 Lidcombe and 16
Concord
responded to a fire in the roof of the Rookwood crematorium. Crews
arrived to find an intense fire in the roof area of a single level
building measuring 25m x 25m. A number of funeral services were
underway at the time of the fire and approximately eighty people had
safely evacuated with assistance from crematorium staff. Crews were
faced with very hazardous conditions but were able to bring the fire
under control with 3 lines of 38mm hose, a line of 70mm hose and the
Ladder Platform from 27
Parramatta
. Other crews in attendance were 62
Bankstown
, 19 Silverwater, 59 Eastwood, 15 Burwood, 85
Chester
Hill, and 64 Lakemba.
House
fire in
Orange
At 2350 hours on
Wednesday 31 July, 412
Orange
responded to a house alight in
Lysterfield Rd
,
Orange
. Firefighters arrived at
midnight
to find a single level fibro and tile house, approximately 6m x 8m,
well alight. SO Neil Hughes immediately called for the tanker from 412
to provide additional water supply, as well as assistance from RFS
crews. One male occupant was treated for smoke inhalation and
transported to hospital where he remained for two days for further
observation. The occupant of the house informed the crews that he was
alerted to the fire by his smoke alarm, enabling him to escape and
dial 000. Unfortunately the house, which was being renovated, was
severely damaged.
Hazmat
incident on the
Hume Highway
at Marulan
At 0527 hours on
Tuesday
5 July, 488
Shellharbour Hazmat and 242 Bundanoon responded to an accident
involving a B-Double truck on the
Hume Highway
at Marulan. 242 Bundanoon
arrived at 0546 hours to find the B-Double on its side. NSW Police,
Ambulance and RFS were in attendance, and two northbound lanes and one
southbound lane on the highway were closed. An unknown substance had
spilled onto the road and the driver had self evacuated with minor
injuries. Crews determined that the substance was dimethyl disulfide
along with a degreaser, and rabbit poison. Additional crews from 234
Bowral, 488 Shellharbour, 207 Albion Park Rail and 305 Goulburn,
as well as Insp Steve McGuinness, Duty
Commander Southern Highlands, responded to assist.
Representatives from the Department of Environment and Climate
Change and the RTA were also in attendance. It took more than 14 hours
to clean up the area due to the vast area that the spill covered and
the need to rotate crews throughout the clean-up operation. The
B-Double was righted and then towed away by the trucking company.
Operational Safety Coordinator Dave Lewis took over as the incident
controller at 1600 hours. The feedback I have received indicates that
all services worked extremely well together over what was a long and
protracted incident.
NSWFB
firefighter nominated for Father of the Year
Insp Michael Morris
has been nominated for the 2008 Community Father of the Year Award.
Michael has been with the NSWFB for 18 years, and is currently the
Duty Commander for MW1 (C Platoon) at Huntingwood.
Michael�s children nominated him for the award in
recognition of his bravery as a firefighter, his commitment and
dedication to his family and for establishing the Samuel Morris
Foundation, which assists children with disabilities, and their
families. I congratulate Michael on this well-deserved nomination. The
2008 Community Father of the Year will be announced at Parliament
House in
Sydney
on Friday 5 September.
RUMOUR
MILL
Rumour:
Is it true that all
NSWFB staff will be getting access to the BOSS system to view current
fire calls?
Response: As
part of an upgrade to the FireCAD BOSS
system, all firefighters will shortly have access to BOSS to allow
viewing of incident related information in near real time. This system
will replace the old FireCAD Intra system
that has been in place for many years, and will significantly improve
the ability of officers and firefighters to be aware of incidents that
are currently underway, as well as providing enhanced search
capability on past incidents to assist with reporting and research.
Filtered
access to BOSS will be via the normal Novell (Groupwise)
user name and password. Senior Officers and other specialist users
will maintain their individual user names and passwords to allow them
to access the enhanced capabilities of the system that will not be
available to a general user due to privacy considerations.
Rumour:
Is it true that Springwood Fire Station will become permanent
instead of retained?
Response:
At this time there are no plans to place permanent firefighters at
Springwood Fire Station. As with all stations on the periphery of the
GSA staffed by retained firefighters, a periodic review of their
service delivery is undertaken in terms of their response isochrones,
frequency of calls and response times.
The Retained Firefighters at 445 are providing an excellent
service.
Rumour:
Is it true that Station 509 Wyoming in Metro North 2 is
scheduled to go 10/14 in the future and if so, will the station remain
where it is or go to another location, and will the retained remain at
that station?
Response: A
proposal to relocate 509 Station
Wyoming
to Lisarow has been incorporated in the Metropolitan North 2 Precinct
Plan. With the expanding Lisarow and Ourimbah areas, a new location
will assist the NSWFB in the future to continue meeting response
criteria. The
retained staff at
509 do an excellent job responding to around 700 calls
each year, and there are no current plans to place permanent staff at
the station.
Rumour:
About four years ago, trials were conducted on a radio headset for
inside firefighter helmets. What was the outcome of these trials?
Also, is it true that torches are being trialled to replace Sabre
lights worn on BA? If so, what is the progress of that trial?
Response: Following
a tender, trials were undertaken of several helmet-mounted
microphone-receiver transducer systems for use in conjunction with
standard NSWFB portable transceivers. All systems made use of bone
conduction microphone transducers; receiver transducers were, however,
a combination of conventional acoustic and bone conduction types.
Tests concluded in September 2005. Results were often variable due to
difficulties in the correct fitting/adjustment of the transducers and
the level of acceptance by firefighters was low. Due to this and other
transceiver compatibility issues, it was decided to focus on a
solution where the microphone/receiver transducer is fitted to the BA
mask. Trials of this arrangement are continuing, and to date there
have been few commercially available products identified that might
meet NSWFB needs.
Trials of Sabre Light
torches for wearing on breathing apparatus were conducted by the
Equipment Research Unit recently. Firefighters
provided significant feedback indicating that improvements could be
made. As a result EDU
will conduct further research to identify possible alternatives for
the future.
EVENTS
Medal
presentation at 92 St Andrews
Visit
to 92 St Andrews by Japanese students
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