NSWFB
assists United Nations disaster response assessment
Assistant
Director Specialised Operations CSupt John Denny and SF Andy Haag will
take part in a UN disaster and emergency planning exercise on November
10 and 11 in
China
. CSupt Denny and FF Haag will attend the UN international
classification exercise to observe and assess Chinese urban search and
rescue teams who are seeking UN accreditation for disaster response.
The UN recognises the significant expertise of the NSWFB in USAR, and
now regularly calls upon our experts to assist with international
training and assessments.
National
Emergency Warning System
Work has begun
to build the infrastructure for a new national telephone-based warning
system which is one tool to help alert communities in the event of
life-threatening emergencies. The system build was completed at the
end of October, with comprehensive testing to take place throughout
November. Up to $15 million has been provided by the Commonwealth
Government for the system to be built and implemented. The system aims
to alert communities to emergencies via a recorded voice message on
landline telephones and a text message on mobiles, based on the
subscribers’ billing address. The
public will be introduced to the system and its new name through an
advertising campaign that will be implemented across all participating
states and territories.
New
bushfire safety brochure – Prepare. Act. Survive.
Large
numbers of people live in urban / bushland interface areas within
NSWFB fire districts. In consultation with the RFS, the Community
Safety Division (CSD) has developed a new safety brochure called Prepare.
Act. Survive to
assist residents in high bushfire risk locations. It provides advice
on steps that can be taken around the home to minimise the risk of
bushfires and includes information on the new fire danger ratings and
alert systems. This brochure has now been distributed directly to 532
000 residential addresses in NSW, identified by the Bushland Urban
Interface Section as being within 400m of the urban / bushland
interface in NSWFB fire districts. Each fire station
and Zone Office has been sent 250 brochures for local use. Prepare.
Act. Survive is
the new slogan for bushfire preparedness developed by Australian fire
services following interim findings of the Victorian Bushfire Royal
Commission. For further information on bushfires or to view the
brochure, visit the 2009/10
Bushfire Season intranet
site.
Port
Macquarie to host 2011 Australasian Firefighter Championships
Congratulations
to Port Macquarie for being selected as the venue for the 2011
Australasian Firefighter Championships. At least 500 competitors,
support personnel and family members from around
Australia
and
New Zealand
are expected to
attend the biennial competition in October 2011. The
host was chosen by the Australasian Championships Committee, which has
two voting members from each State and Territory. I’m sure that 424
Station Port
Macquarie
will be proud to host the event in their home town.
Congratulations should also go to firefighters from 405 Nowra who came
second in this year’s championships in
New Zealand
. NSWFB firefighters from Dorrigo, Glen Innes, Kelso and
Coffs
Harbour
and Rural Fire Service (RFS) firefighters from Kootingal
all placed in the top 20 of the prestigious competition. Our
firefighters worked for many months to prepare for the Championships
weekend, which attracted hundreds of firefighters from across
Australasia
.
NSWFB
hosts international delegations
In
recent weeks the NSWFB has had an ‘international flavour’ with
many overseas firefighters and government officials visiting with us
to share information.
· On
Friday 9 October City of
Sydney
hosted a Korean
delegation which has been training in
Sydney
with the RFS for
several weeks on bushfire strategies.
· On
Thursday 22 October, I met with the Deputy Chief Officer of the
Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service. He spent time with our
staff learning about our RescueEd program and other road safety
initiatives.
· On
Monday 2 November 15 firefighters from the
Gyenggi
Province
in
Korea
spent time with
officers discussing the importance of our Lessons Learned Centre.
· On
Thursday 12 November, Hazmat will host a Vietnamese
delegation studying Brigade procedures for dealing with incidents
within nuclear facilities.
· On
Wednesday 16 December we will host 24 senior government officials
from the
Zhejiang
Province
in the People's
Republic of
China
investigating our ICS
systems.
· Also
in December we are expecting a further delegation from the Guandong
Public Fire Management Bureau (
China
) to explore some of our fire education initiatives.
All
these visits certainly highlight the reputation that the NSW Fire
Brigades continues to develop as a world leader in many aspects of
emergency management.
Central
Coast
Triple
Zero Cup - the last one
Senior
Firefighter “Billy Mac” Maclean is organising his last Triple Zero
Cup on Friday November 13th at
Woy Woy Oval, and I hope that lots of people will show up to have a
fun day, to support Westmead Children’s Hospital and Childflight,
and to thank Billy for the tireless efforts of he and his family since
the first cup in 1992. Back then there only 8 teams, and at last count
there were 31 registered for the latest event. The cost is $50 for
players and spectators (kids free), with proceeds covering costs and
the balance to the above charities. The cup is always a great day that
brings together firefighters, ambulance and police personnel, as well
as guest appearances by
Parramatta
legends”, and more. Billy and his family have done an
amazing job over the years, and on behalf of everyone, a big thank you
from the NSWFB and all of the kids who have benefited from the money
raised. Contact Umina Fire Station for more information on this
year’s cup, but be quick.
New
Safety Officer kits
In
coming weeks a new specially designed kit will be distributed for use
by designated incident ground Safety Officers. The bright green kit
has been designed for use by Safety Officers and safety sector crew
who require reference material and information on-hand to assist them
in the safety role. Included in the kit are relevant SOGs, In Orders
and Safety Bulletins. Additionally, each kit contains three ‘safety
brassards’ to be worn on the upper arm of nominated safety personnel
for improved identification at the incident ground. (Safety Officer
tabards are still in use and the brassards are additional.) The kit
will be kept on all Duty and Zone Commanders’ vehicles. For further
information see the intranet
story.
Four
firefighters receive bravery awards
On
Friday 16 October 2009 NSW Governor Marie Bashir presented four
members of the NSWFB with Royal Humane Society Bravery Awards at a
ceremony held at Government House. SF Robert Hodge and SO Brent Smith
received bronze medals for their actions at the scene of a house fire
at Bradbury, while Retained Firefighter Mark Waters received a bronze
medal and Deputy Captain James Reddish a certificate of merit for
their actions at an incident at Morrisset. My congratulations to all.
Farewell
SO Alf Emerson (retired)
On
Monday together with many family, friends, serving and retired
firefighters, I attended the funeral of the late Station Officer Alf
Emerson who retired 20 years ago. Alf was a colourful character,
having been a professional boxer, merchant seaman, and firefighter
both in
Australia
and
New Zealand
. He became a firefighter in
New
Zealand
because the local Fire Chief was a boxing trainer and
wanted Alf in his “stable”. The most notable aspect of Alf’s
service was his commitment to fellow firefighters, and to building a
better world. Alf was a member of the FBEU’s State Council for 28
years, and provided strong, principled leadership together with former
Union Secretaries Maurie Stolmack and Frank Bryce, and former Union
President Station Officer Bill Turtle. In 1979 I relieved at 61 Lane
Cove and Alf promptly asked me to stand for the State Council. I was
privileged to work with him for 10 years in that capacity. Union
Secretary Jim Casey and retired Station Officer Len Rance each gave
wonderful tributes to Alf and his work on behalf of firefighters at
the funeral.
Fires
in ceilings
FIRU
has been researching the rapidly expanding incidence of roof void
fires associated with the installation of ceiling insulation. The
NSWFB has attended 43 ceiling/roof fires since the beginning of the
year – between August and October alone there were 23 ceiling fires
caused by cellulous fibre insulation coming into contact with a heat
source. Records show that some fires have occurred within days of
installation. FIRU is collaborating with the Office of Fair Trading in
an endeavour to reverse this risk for further ceiling fires. FIRU has
received tremendous support from stations attending these incidents,
in the form of photographs, basic summaries and contact details, but
more information is required. The information FIRU is seeking:
occupant contact details, type of insulation, smoke alarm operation,
installation company details, ignition source and photos (if possible). At
0442hrs on Wednesday 28 October, 424 Port Macquarie under the command
of SO Gaven Muller responded to one of the latest roof fires involving
incorrectly installed ceiling insulation. Fortunately no-one
was injured and SO Muller noted that the family had working smoke
alarms which alerted them to the fire, had purchased a fire
extinguisher which was used to initiate first attack on the fire, and
followed their home escape plan to safely evacuated the premises
before the Brigade’s arrival.
Supermarket
fire at Harden
At
0215 hours on Tuesday 27 October, firefighters from 389 Harden and 513
Young, were responded to a reported building fire at
Neill St
, Harden. On
arrival, 389’s crew found smoke issuing from a local supermarket. They
forced entry and were confronted with heavy smoke logging from a deep
seated fire that was difficult to access. They
called for assistance and crews from 266 Cootamundra, 305 Goulburn and
the Duty Commander RS2, Insp Brendan Cox, responded to assist. When
flames started issuing from the roof, the crews were withdrawn, a
defensive strategy was adopted and exposure protection was established
to prevent the fire spreading to the adjacent store. This
proved successful in containing the fire and the stop was sent at 0606
hours. Crews remained on scene for several hours completing overhaul
and assisting the Duty Commander with the investigation.
Fires
at
Cumberland
Hospital
At
2034 hours on Monday 26 October and 2003 hours on Tuesday 27 October,
firefighters from 57 Wentworthville and 67 Northmead responded to
AFAs
at
Cumberland
Hospital
. Both of these
AFAs were the result of actual fires. The
first fire was a bedroom fire in a self-contained unit block in the
Boronia Ward. Due
to the number of triple zero calls being received, Sydney Comms
responded 27
Parramatta
’s pumper and ladder platform before the arrival of 57
Wentworthville. Upon arrival, the firefighters found that staff
had already evacuated the patients and they were quickly able to
extinguish the fire before it could spread. The
bedroom was destroyed by the fire and the rest of the building had to
be ventilated due to smoke logging. The
fire on the next night was in a different building and was confined to
a mattress. It
was quickly extinguished by staff who also evacuated the patients. Once
again, the building required ventilation to remove the smoke. The
actions of the hospital staff on both nights deserve mention as they
were able to quickly enact their emergency evacuation procedures and
keep everyone safe.
Fires
at a restaurant in Bankstown
At
0441 hours on Thursday 29 October, firefighters from 62
Bankstown
and 47 Revesby responded to a fire in a restaurant at
South Terrace,
Bankstown
. Upon arrival,
they discovered smoke issuing from a Thai restaurant and got to work
with a 38mm hoseline. The
fire was extinguished very quickly and the scene was handed over to
the police due to the suspicious nature of the fire. At
0331 hours on Friday 30 October, firefighters from 47 Revesby and 64
Lakemba were responded to a shop fire in South Terrace. It
turned out to be a fire in the same restaurant. Once
again, it was quickly extinguished and handed over to the police.
Rumour:
Is
it true that the Fire Brigade is looking at training relieving
firefighters to relieve at Sydney Comms to reduce overtime. If so, why
isn't this being applied to all Comms centres?
Response:
There
is no truth to this rumour.
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