A
safe and happy Easter to all
It has been a busy
start to 2009 and I hope those not on shift will have a chance over
the Easter long weekend to spend some time with family and friends.
For those travelling or working, please do so safely.
New
Directors /Assistant Commissioners appointed
Earlier this week I
announced the appointments and promotions of Assistant Commissioner
Mark Whybro AFSM as the Director Specialised Operations and
Assistant Commissioner Jim Smith AFSM as the Director Community
Safety. Both Mark and Jim are highly experienced officers and bring a
wealth of knowledge to these positions. I congratulate them on their
promotions and look forward to working more closely with them as part
of the Brigades’ executive leadership team.
Minister
for Emergency Services meets firefighters
Over the past two
weeks the Minister for Emergency Services, Steve Whan, has made a
point of meeting with firefighters in both metropolitan and regional
areas. On Saturday 28 March Mr Whan joined Deputy Commissioner John
Benson and Supt Greg O’Connor (Zone Commander MS1) to present SO Bob
Hunter from 241 Bulli with a certificate in recognition of his
family’s commitment to the NSW Fire Brigades. The Hunter family,
including Bob’s father,
Station Officer Ken Hunter and grandfather, Inspector Hugh Hunter have
contributed a combined 103 years of service to the NSWFB.
The Minister also visited 32 Mount Druitt on Tuesday 31 March
to formally hand over the keys of the new Class 3 pumper.
Following a tour of the flood damage on the Mid North Coast, Minister
Whan also met retained firefighters who were completing Phase 2
training at the Armidale training facility
last weekend. These visits have provided the Minister with a good
overview of some of the capabilities of the NSWFB and I am advised he
was impressed with the professionalism and expertise of everybody he
met.
Station
visits
In last week’s CC I
failed to mention my visit to 453 Taree. Since then I have met with
firefighters from 11 Woollahra, 3 The Rocks, 4 Darlinghurst, 76 Bondi,
13 Alexandria, 29 Rockdale, 39 Randwick, 70 Maroubra, 1 City of
Sydney, 18 Glebe and 22 Leichhardt. The station visits are invaluable
to me, as it enables me to hear first-hand what you think I should be
concentrating on as your Commissioner. I will be factoring in visits
to
Newcastle
,
Wollongong
, the
Central
Coast
,
Blue Mountains
and regional areas in coming weeks and months.
NSWFB
at the 2009 Sydney Royal Easter Show
From 8-23 April,
retained firefighters from metropolitan and regional areas will be
providing fire protection for the thousands of stall holders and
visitors at the 2009 Sydney Royal Easter Show. The firefighters,
equipped with a Class 2 pumper and Class 1 tanker, are based at the
fire station under the main arena. It has been a long standing
arrangement with the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) and an NSWFB
tradition for retained firefighters from regional areas to come to the
city to provide fire protection during the Show, and they do an
outstanding job.
New
fitness handbook for firefighters
On Thursday 2 April,
I attended the launch of the new handbook called ‘Physical
Performance Optimisation for Firefighters’. The Vice Chancellor
of Wollongong University, Gerrard Sutton,
co-author of the book, Dr Herb Groeller,
members of the Health and Fitness team and D platoon form City of
Sydney
were in attendance.
The handbook was developed specifically by
Wollongong
University
for the NSWFB to assist in educating firefighters about their own
health and fitness needs. It highlights the physical demands of
firefighting, the principles of endurance training, resistance
training and trunk control as they relate to firefighters. It also
contains sections on appropriate stretching routines, hydration,
nutrition and considerations for firefighters working in hot
conditions. To obtain your free copy of the handbook, register your
details on Fire Fit.
Open Day 2009
This year's Open
Day will be held on
3 May 2009
and offers the public an opportunity to meet
firefighters, visit our fire stations and improve their knowledge
of home fire safety. I encourage you to make the most of this
event by highlighting our work and providing advice to local residents
on smoke alarms and home escape plans as we prepare for the worst time
of year for residential fires. To learn more about this
year's event click here. For more information on the campaign contact
Acting Manager of CEDU, Acting Superintendent Norm Buckley.
Change Your Clock,
Change Your
Battery
I would like to thank
all firefighters who contributed to the success of this year's
Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery smoke alarm campaign, as well
as Public Affairs and CEDU. We managed to gain a great deal of media
coverage statewide, enabling us to push
the vital safety messages.
New
winter jackets
Manufacturing of the
new wind-stopper style jacket is underway, but unfortunately delivery
will not commence until June 2009. It had been envisaged that
everybody would have their new jackets by the start of Winter,
but there have been delays outside our control. The new jacket will
replace the Spicer and Castro jackets which will no longer be issued.
Anyone who has not yet provided size information which is necessary to
finalise the distribution of the jackets can still do so by contacting
Supply Services on (02) 9742 7444.
Presentation
to Police Officers
Yesterday I attended
the NSW Police Harbourside Area Command
awards ceremony at
Roseville
with Police Assistant Commissioner Dennis Clifford in order to present
NSWFB Commendations to five Police Officers for their actions at a
house fire.
In January last year at around 0100 hours the five officers responded
to reports of a house alight and arrived prior to the NSWFB. SO Martin
Stelzer from 61 Lane Cove submitted a
report to the Honours and Awards Committee outlining the outstanding
actions of the officers in making entry to the two storey house, which
was well alight on the upper level, with persons reported trapped.
Upon arrival of firefighters the Police Officers were able to assist
firefighters in immediately conducting a primary search – an
excellent example of inter-service cooperation.
Australian
Emergency Management Committee
In my role as Chair
of the NSW State Emergency Management Committee, I represent the NSW
Government on the Australian Emergency Management Committee (AEMC).
Last week I travelled to
Adelaide
for a meeting of the AEMC.
A major project that I have led since 2006 has been the introduction
of a single incident management system across
Australia
. While all fire services, land management agencies, the SES and most
ambulance services use the Australian Inter-service Incident
Management System (AIIMS), police agencies have tended to use in-house
command and control systems until relatively recently when they
adopted a hybrid of AIIMS for terrorist related incidents. After
detailed discussions and negotiations over the last 2 years and
involvement of the Australasian Fire
and Emergency Services Authorities’ Council (AFAC), agreement was
finally secured last week for the introduction of a standard
coordination framework based on ICS principles across
Australia
. This breakthrough could not have been achieved without the support
of NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione
who has supported the efforts from the outset. There has been interest
in the developments from overseas.
Major
Sydney incidents – 30 March
Monday
30 March proved to be a busy day for the NSWFB, with firefighters
responding to three major incidents in
Sydney
throughout the day.
5th
Alarm factory fire in
St
Peters
At
0357 hours more than 60 firefighters responded to a major factory fire
at
Unwins Bridge Road
,
St Peters
. Crews were on scene within six minutes and reported a fire in
a 70m x 30m single level factory with flames through the
roof. Due to the intensity of the fire and threat of building
collapse, firefighters were unable to enter the fire affected
building. Two aerial appliances were positioned at either end of the
factory to prevent fire spread, while crews
forced entry into the adjoining factory to establish cut offs. When I
visited the fireground later in the
morning, I was amazed at how firefighters working in very demanding
conditions stopped the spread of the fire and saved many businesses.
Skylights in the adjoining factory had melted allowing direct
flame penetration which set high rack storage alight. Despite this,
firefighters contained fire spread – a good save.
Because
of the large volume of smoke, HAZ2 went to two local schools and a
shopping centre to conduct air sampling and advised school principals
and centre management to close all doors and windows and shut down air
conditioning. Similar advice was broadcast over the radio in the
interests of the health and safety of nearby residents. Demolition
equipment was brought in to pull down and break up the factory and its
contents, allowing fire crews to reach the deep seated fire.
Firefighters remained at the incident until the early hours of
Wednesday 1 April.
4th
Alarm response to highrise explosion
As
I was returning to my office at 1241 hours I overheard radio messages
concerning an AFA, following numerous Triple Zero calls to an
explosion on an upper level of
the residential towers above Eastgate
Shopping Centre at Spring Street, Bondi Junction. Sydney Comms
quickly upgraded the response to a 2nd Alarm then a 3rd
Alarm, and firefighters from 11 Woollahra (pumper and ladders), 76
Bondi, 4 Darlinghurst (pumper and ladder platform) 39
Randwick
, the Flyer, Runner, and
Supt Peter Stathis all responded. Due to a
shortage of senior officers in the immediate vicinity I also
responded.
Eastgate
Shopping Centre comprises of two residential apartment buildings each
of 30 storeys, and a large shopping complex on levels 1 through to 9.
An explosion had occurred on the 30th floor in the plant
room of one of the buildings. The force of the explosion had caused
extensive damage from level 30 down to level 26, with most doors blown
off hinges and some walls completely destroyed. Crews searched the
upper floors of the building for casualties and occupants, including 2
injured plumbers, were assisted from the building. Many of the
residents were elderly and had to be carried by firefighters down many
floors. Upon my arrival I conferred with Supt Stathis
and sent a Red message for a 4th Alarm given the number of
evacuations required. A total of 80 people were evacuated from the
residential tower and more than 1 000 from the shopping centre
complex, taking more than two hours.
Hazmat
conducted air monitoring and lower explosive limit testing throughout
the building and a structural engineer confirmed that the structural
integrity of the building was sound. With the arrival of USAR 1,
Inspector David Lewis organised firefighters to conduct a thorough
search of the rubble on upper levels. Fortunately no further
casualties were found. Firefighters remained on scene until 2157 hours
that night, working under extremely difficult and strenuous
conditions.
Sydney
CBD blackout
As
more than 40 firefighters worked to ensure the safety of residents and
shoppers in Bondi Junction, others faced the next challenge of the
day, with a major power failure across the
Sydney
, including some parts of
the eastern suburbs. The blackout reportedly affected around 70 000
homes and business, with firefighters responding
to around 100 incidents across the city in a 90 minute period
including 29 lift rescues, numerous AFAs,
calls to smoke issuing (diesel generator exhausts), and a shop fire.
With
traffic lights out across the CBD and traffic congestion, it was
sometimes challenging for firefighters to respond to incidents,
however the quick and professional response of the NSWFB was greatly
appreciated, particularly by those stuck in lifts.
Floods on the Mid
North
Coast
For
the second time in as many months, the Mid North Coast was hit by
heavy rains and floods last week, with the towns of Urunga, Bellingen
and
Coffs
Harbour
among the worst affected
areas. Firefighters from 507 Woolgoolga, 257 Coffs Harbour, 441
Sawtell, 476 Urunga, 371 Macksville, 345 Kempsey, 424 Port Macquarie,
457 Tenterfield, 331 Inverell, 452 Tamworth, 205 Armidale, 253 Casino,
211 Ballina and 306 Grafton responded to hundreds of incidents
including rescues, saving the lives of
approximately 30 people who potentially could have drowned.
Following
a tour of the area last Friday, including a visit to Urunga Fire
Station which was flooded with 1.5 metres of water, the NSW Premier
Nathan Rees, personally phoned Chief Supt Rob Lindsay (Area Commander
RN) and asked him pass on his thanks to all of the firefighters who
had responded during the floods
RUMOURS
Rumour:
Is it true a Bronto fell off a
hoist while being used at the Greenacre workshop and was written off
and everyone was sworn to secrecy?
Response:
Yes and no. A ladder
platform fell on its side during routine servicing
at
Greenacre, but there was no veil of secrecy! At the time the appliance
wheels were on the ground and the boom was raised with the cabin
lifted in accordance with normal maintenance practice. A full
investigation was conducted with the end result being that all ladder
platform appliances required inspection of the rotation gear slew
brake control system. The appliance that fell over during servicing
did not have normal valve operation. The incident was managed in line
with Work Cover and NSWFB policies governing such events.
Rumour:
Is it true that new appliances are being allocated to
politically sensitive areas while stations in the GSA are using 15
year old Firepacs? Why don’t they all
get new appliances?
Response:
No. “Politics”
plays no part in appliance allocations. New appliances are being
allocated to replace the oldest appliances in the fleet, and many of
the regional centres with permanent staff have appliances more than 20
years old. They have therefore been given priority, as the Firepacs
in the GSA are “younger” than the Scania
appliances in those major centres. There have been 14 new class 3
appliances commissioned in the past 18 months and there are 30 new
units on order. There will be further orders raised in the coming
financial year. All of the Firepacs are
expected to be replaced as front line pumpers by September
2010 although they will continue in service as SEVs
until about June 2011.
Rumour:
Has Gosford primary rescue been turning out with
unqualified rescue operators on board for the past six months?
Response:
No. Gosford
Fire Station has been accredited as a Secondary Rescue unit for many
years and in November 2006 received a Heavy Rescue vehicle. At that
time, any staff not already primary rescue qualified were
trained to use the additional equipment. When the station became
primary rescue accredited in September 2008 all of those who were
rescue accredited were capable of staffing the appliance in its
primary role. The Rescue Section is now conducting refresher training
which will ensure that all staff have all
aspects of primary rescue qualifications. This training is expected to
be completed by mid May 2009.
Rumour:
Is it true that a small number of stations that currently are
not on the matrix (such as 489, 421, 248) and several others are
finally to be included on the matrix to negate the need of unnecessary
paperwork and claim vouchers, and in turn reduce the administrative
workload of corresponding zone commanders?
Response:
No, but what a good idea. Therefore I have directed that the process
commence to place them on the matrix, as well as other general
alterations, as per In
Order 1996/9.
Rumour:
Is there a plan to give department medals to all
firefighters that worked the back-to-back roster for 10 years or more?
Response:
Not sure whether this a “real”
rumour or not, but I’ll answer it anyway.
There are no plans to introduce a specific medal for firefighters
who worked the back-to‑back roster. The NSWFB Long Service and
Good Conduct Medal recognises diligent long
service and good conduct by members of the NSWFB. Any firefighter who
has completed 10 years of eligible service qualifies to receive this
award regardless of the roster system.
Rumour: Is
there a plan to train all firefighters to secondary rescue
accreditation to remove the inequity in pay which is occurring for
different work?
Response: No.
The rescue qualification payment is related to additional skills
and responsibilities which non-accredited stations do not have.
Therefore the reference to “inequity in pay” in this context is
incorrect.
Rumour:
Why have firefighters from No.1 station been placed on a primary
rescue course when they are secondary rescue, when other firefighters
who are primary rescue are unable to get places on the course?
Response: While City
of
Sydney
has secondary accreditation
it is equipped with a full primary rescue inventory and often
“steps up” to a primary role. To ensure the NSWFB is
compliant with its OH&S requirements, rescue trainees at
COS
participate in the
primary rescue course. This ensures adequate coverage for the
inner city which is recognised as a high risk area for rescues, as
well as enabling a seamless transfer of primary rescue responsibility
in the event the Police Rescue Unit at Zetland is temporarily
unavailable. Last Monday for example, the NSWFB conducted 29 lift
rescues in the CBD and the Police Rescue Squad conducted 5.
Rumour:
Is it true that all new and refurbished two storey fire
stations will have fire poles. If so, when is Lidcombe getting a pole?
If not, why not?
Response:
It is the NSWFB policy that, in new two storey stations or major
two storey extensions or renovations, there must be a slide pole
unless there are very good design reasons to exclude it. Experience
overseas has been that provided there is appropriate instruction, and
safety measures such as energy absorbent mats and doors to prevent
falls, poles not only speed up response times, but can reduce injuries
due
to slip, trips and falls on stairs. A slide pole was originally
designed into the Lidcombe Fire Station works however following
consultation with staff on all platoons the pole was removed from the
plans as it was not practical in the final design requirements of the
station.
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