A
late bushfire season
Yesterday
afternoon I attended the RFS Coordination Centre at
Homebush
Bay
to monitor the serious
developing bushfire situation with RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.
Our own Bushfire Incident Coordination Centre is now co-located with
the RFS at Homebush. Chief Supt John Denny and A/Supt Darryl Dunbar
and their team kept in close contact with State Communications at
Alexandria
and coordinated our
responses with the RFS.
While
not suggesting that conditions will deteriorate to that extent,
current conditions are disturbingly similar to those in 1993 / 94,
when late spring and early summer rains and storms suggested that
there would be no significant bushfire problems. However a burst of
very hot and dry weather led to rapid drying of vegetation and
numerous outbreaks throughout the state, as has happened over the last
couple of weeks. There are predictions of hot weather occurring in
regular patterns with little or no rain over coming weeks, and we
therefore need to be aware that we could very soon be facing a serious
bushfire threat.
Yesterday
Section 44 emergencies were declared at Hornsby and Penrith and
hundreds of NSWFB officers and firefighters worked alongside RFS and
NPWS firefighters to contain fast moving fires. Yesterday’s fires
followed other serious fires in the Hunter, in the
Southern Highlands
, and in
Sydney
’s northern suburbs. The
Riverina, south west, central western plains, Southern Highlands,
Sydney Metropolitan, Hunter, and to a lesser extent the south east
part of the state have all received lower than average rainfall, and
very high to extreme fire danger is being experienced on a daily basis
away from the coast. Firefighters are reminded of the
recently published operations bulletin concerning the bushfire safety
memory aid LACES.
Firefighter safety is fundamental to everything we do, and the
application of LACES at bushfire incidents will assist in
ensuring that all personnel return home safe and sound.
Farewell
to David Bailey
Earlier
this week David Bailey, Director Finance and Administration, left the
organisation after 10 years of dedicated service.
David will be missed by his many friends and colleagues due to his
friendly nature and of course his strong focus on providing
firefighters with the support and funds needed to safely and
effectively fulfil their important roles. I wish David all the best
for the future and thank him both personally and on behalf of everyone
in the NSWFB for his dedication and hard work over the last decade during
a period of immense change, improvement and expansion.
Appointment
of new Director Finance and Information Technology
Yesterday,
Richard Host took up the new role of Director Finance and Information
Technology. Richard has been Director Information Technology for three
years and in that time has revolutionised the teams, technology and
systems. In addition to his IT skills, Richard holds a number of
business and finance degrees, is a Fellow
of CPA Australia and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company
Directors. Richard’s previous experience in implementing and
supporting multinational financial systems and teams will allow him to
take the NSWFB's finance and IT areas to
industry best practice. I look forward to working with Richard in this
new role.
E-mentoring
program
Late last year, the
NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet launched a new e‑Mentoring
program as part of the Making
the public sector work better for women strategy. It has been
developed specifically to meet the career development needs of women
in the NSW public sector particularly those in rural and regional
areas and those working in non-traditional roles, like firefighting.
The program is seeking people who are willing to be mentors (men or
women) and women interested in being mentored. If you are interested
in participating in the program, please discuss it with your
supervisor. For more information, visit www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/e-mentoring
Applications close on 23 January.
Off
duty firefighters provide life-saving assistance at MVA
On Thursday 8
January, two off duty firefighters, Mark Hankin
and Jeremy Tout, later assisted by 458 Teralba, rendered life-saving
assistance to the victim of a motor vehicle accident at Teralba. Quick
intervention and CPR provided by police and the off duty firefighters,
followed by 458 Teralba’s intervention and use of an AED, played a
crucial role in saving the man’s life. I would like to congratulate FFs
Hankin and Tout and 458 Teralba for their
efforts in a difficult, life threatening situation. For more
information on the incident, click here.
2009
Mardi Gras parade
Following the success
of last year's involvement, the NSWFB will be participating in the
2009 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, on Saturday 7 March.
NSWFB participation is aimed at delivering fire safety messages to the
hundreds of thousands of spectators, and also communicating that the
NSWFB is an organisation that responds to provide assistance to all
members of the community and values its workforce, regardless of their
race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or other differences.
Anyone interested in volunteering to be part of the NSWFB 2009 Parade
entry should email Supt Greg Wild, Manager Community Engagement with
their details - gregory.wild@fire.nsw.gov.au
NSWFB staff can also
nominate to bring their partners and/or immediate family (who must
be aged 18 years or over). Expressions of Interest close
5pm
,
Friday 6 February 2009
.
Barbeque
fire safety reminder
Unfortunately
firefighters are sometimes called to attend fires caused by
barbeques during
Australia Day celebrations. For the rest of this month, I encourage
you to spread barbeque fire safety messages through your community
using the media
release template. For more information on the 2009 BBQ Fire Safety
Campaign click here.
5th
Alarm factory fire at Marrickville
At 2300 hours on New
Year’s Day, numerous Triple Zero calls were received reporting a
factory fire in
Meeks Road
, Marrickville. Firefighters were on scene within four minutes and
were confronted with smoke issuing from the roof of a large chocolate
factory. Firefighters had to cut through a roller door to gain access
to the fire, which was burning fiercely fuelled by oils, powder and
cardboard used in the production of the chocolate. Crews were faced
with extreme heat, the threat of walls collapsing and reports of oxy
acetylene cylinders, which forced firefighters from the building.
Exclusions zones were established and fixed monitors and aerial
appliances led the attack on the fire, with 28 residents from nearby
homes evacuated as the response was upgraded to a 5th
Alarm. A nearby electrical substation under threat from the fire was
shut down, resulting in 35 000 people losing power for four hours.
More than 70 firefighters from 12 fire stations worked for almost four
hours to bring the fire under control, and it attracted significant
media attention from all major TV, radio and print media outlets, even
attracting a mention on websites in
New York
.
Gas
cylinder explodes in Raymond Terrace
At around 2200 hours
on Saturday 3 January firefighters from 432 Raymond Terrace and 454
Tarro responded to an external bin fire at the rear of the old council
building in Port Stephens St, Raymond Terrace. Before firefighters
arrived at the incident, a 150kg LPG cylinder exploded, shattering the
windows of the nearby Council Community Care Centre. The airborne
cylinder travelled 30 metres, smashing through trees, and then
travelled another 50 metres into the wall of another building,
shattering windows and causing extensive damage to an external wall,
where it came to rest. After two hours, the scene was rendered safe.
Fortunately, no-one was injured in the explosion. This incident
highlights the extreme dangers posed by LPG cylinders when exposed to
extreme heat.
When
good snakes go bad
On Monday 12 January
firefighters from 67 Northmead (D Platoon) were staffing a community
education display at Winston Hills Shopping Centre when a member of
the public approached the stand and requested assistance for a woman
who had just been bitten by a snake. While one firefighter went to the
appliance to retrieve the first aid kit, the rest of the crew
discovered that a snake handler, who was running a reptile display at
the shopping centre, had been bitten by her prize six foot python.
While pythons are not venomous, firefighters sterilised and dressed
the wound. The handler said that although she had been working with
the python for 12 years, the snake would have to be retired from use
in reptile shows. A call was received at Head Office from a member of
the public later that day commending the firefighters for their swift
and professional response at this incident.
RUMOURS
Rumour:
Now that Narellan is 10/14, will it receive a second appliance (pumper
or tanker) to ensure an efficient use of retained firefighters at the
station?
Response:
There are no current plans for a second pumper or tanker at Narellan,
however retained firefighters are still responding to incidents and
work with the permanent crews.
Rumour:
Why is the historic Brigade staff
numbering system being changed to suit the new pay system? Should the
pay system be changed to suit our way of numbering?
Response:
All current employees’ service numbers will remain the same in
the new system. To ensure our HR, pay and financial systems keep all
the data connected to an individual attached to one record, all new
employees hired from February 2009 will be allocated a sequential
staff number starting from 900,000.
There were problems with the old system, for example, if a
retained firefighter became a permanent firefighter they had to change
service numbers, which resulted in the individual appearing
to be two unrelated people (with different service numbers) in
our systems, which was inaccurate and inefficient, and could lead to
problems with leave entitlements, National Medals etc.
The new numbering system removes this problem. The decision was
made after significant consultation, and the consensus at the time was
that it would make no real difference despite some people feeling a
bit nostalgic about the old “seniority” numbers. Maintaining the
“old” numbers, which are about to hit 10000, would have required
significant re-work on the system, make data storage difficult and
less reliable, and be a significant cost to taxpayers. On this basis
it could not be justified.
Rumour:
Is it true that all the support vehicles in
Sydney
are being returned to Greenacre to be staffed by light duties
personnel on a 10/14 roster.
Response:
Not at this stage,
although it could be a future option.
A working paper is being developed with proposals to ensure the
best possible use of the Logistic Vehicle Fleet. At the same time, we
are also looking at options to provide 10/14 roster roles for
firefighters no longer fit for operational firefighting. The
Union
will be consulted on any firm proposals.
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