Anzac
Day March
This
Sunday I will have the honour of representing the NSW Fire Brigades on
ANZAC Day by laying a wreath at the Sydney Dawn Service in Martin
Place. We will also hold our traditional remembrance service at the
City of Sydney Fire Station, a custom which has been practiced since
1928. At the conclusion of the remembrance service, together with
Deputy Commissioner Benson I will lead our contingent as it moves to
the formation point for the main ANZAC Day march. The Professional
Standards and Conduct Officer has distributed instructions about
conduct, wearing of uniforms and consumption of alcohol while in
uniform.
Fire
Prevention Week
Fire
Prevention Week is our opportunity to focus on educating the community
about better managing their own fire risks as we prepare for the
cooler months when the number of fires in homes, deaths and injuries
increase. Fire Prevention
Week starts with Brigade Kids Day on Sunday 2 May – a fun and
educational day for children and families – when Brigade Kids CDs
can be distributed by firefighters at McDonald’s restaurants.
The Sunday Telegraph will also run an eight-page fire safety
supplement. During the
week, events for seniors and culturally and linguistically diverse
communities will be held. Keep
an eye on the intranet for further details.
Reminder
about NSWFB Open Day
Don’t forget that the NSWFB annual Open Day is on Saturday 8 May,
10.00am – 2.00pm. As mentioned in the last Commish’s Corner, this
event, which is the culmination of Fire Prevention Week, is an
opportunity to help the community to better understand the diverse
role of the NSWFB and to learn about fire prevention.
For more information, including the media release template,
show bags and promotional material, see the intranet
story.
Top
US fire official visits NSWFB
On
Sunday 11 April and Tuesday 13 April I met with the Chief Kelvin
Cochrane, the US Fire Administrator, from the US Department of
Homeland Security. Together with other senior US officials, Chief
Cochrane was in Australia to meet with fire and emergency management
agencies in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra to discuss a range of fire
safety and emergency management issues. Chief Cochrane was formerly
the Fire Chief in Atlanta, Georgia, and before that was a Fire Chief
in Louisiana. He was very impressed with the NSWFB and particularly
with our work on reduced fire risk cigarettes, fire safety for CALD
communities, and home sprinkler systems.
Critical
Incident Stress Program meeting
On
Wednesday night I attended a conference dinner for the CISP. Current
and former members of the team attended, as well as the 2 Deputy
Commissioners, AC Mark Brown, CISP Managers from the RFS and
Ambulance, and of course our Chaplains, Lyndsay and Dawn Smith. The
dinner and conference were significant, not only because of the
training and education provided, but because it is now 20 years since
the CISP was established. Both AC Brown and I were foundation members
in 1990, and the NSWFB was one of the first emergency services in
Australia to have a formal critical incident program and peer
supporters. The program came about largely through the efforts of
retired Station Officer Bill Clifford AFSM, who was at the dinner, as
well as former Chaplains Don Woodland, Bob and Genness Garven, and
Brigade psychologist Julie Berg. Each year the firefighters who make
up the team devote a total of nearly 1600 hours voluntarily to help
their fellow employees. My thanks to them and to the Coordinator,
Firefighter Mark Dobson.
Online
NIIENM
The
online reporting system for injuries, illnesses, exposures and near
misses has been launched for a trial period until 30 June.
The online system replicates the paper format, with the
additional benefit of individuals being able to access their NIIENMs
online at any time, and Duty Commanders/Managers being able to provide
their input and review. Using
this system should improve processing and tracking of injury and near
miss information, help us better plan for OHS and reduce workplace
injuries and illness. See the intranet
for more details.
Rehab
pod commissioned
The
two new rehabilitation pods were recently formally commissioned at an
information/demonstration session at the Training College on 9 April.
The pods consist of a range of equipment geared towards
reducing firefighter heat stress by rapidly cooling core body
temperature, particularly through the use of specially designed
chairs. The rehab pods
also contain medical and refreshment supplies and are available ‘on
call’ for deployment within the Sydney Basin. They have already been
deployed at a 6th Alarm fire at St Marys, and 6th Alarm fire at North
Parramatta.
Temora
Centenary Ball
Last
Saturday 17 April I attended the Temora Fire Brigade Centenary Ball at
Temora Bowling Club in celebration of more than 100 years of dedicated
service to the community. The
Minister for Emergency Services was represented by the Hon. Michael
Veitch MLC. Also in
attendance were Temora Shire Council Mayor Peter Speirs OAM, and Assistant
Commissioner Jim Hamilton, along with Temora members past and present.
A local country fire brigade was established by Temora townspeople in
1881, and in 1910 they became a part of the NSWFB.
During
the day a vintage fire engine was displayed and a book on the history
of the Temora Fire Brigade, written by Captain Greg Matthews AFSM, was
launched. Congratulations to Temora Brigade for the hard work they put
into making the event such a success.
Bathurst
firies support prostate cancer awareness campaign
Australian
statistics show that prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed
cancer in Australia and the second highest cause of cancer deaths in
men. With data forecasting that 20,000 men will be diagnosed with
prostate cancer in 2010, Bathurst Senior Firefighters David Press and
Anthony Baillie were involved in a campaign to raise awareness of this
issue within their community and the Brigades.
Through their commitment to the campaign, two Guinness Book of
Records categories were broken with 12.5km of neck ties knotted around
Mt Panorama and many people gained an increased awareness of the issue
of prostate cancer. See the intranet
story.
INCIDENTS
Fatal
house fire at Peak Hill
At 1214 hours on Thursday 8 April,
firefighters from 419 Peak Hill and 417 Parkes were called to a house
alight at Peak Hill. 419 was on scene within six minutes and found the
10m x 5m weatherboard house well alight. Firefighters were alerted
that two people were unaccounted for and crews wearing breathing
apparatus entered the burning structure in an attempt to locate
missing occupants. The fire was too far advanced and when the ceilings
started to collapse firefighters were forced to retreat. It took a
further twenty minutes to bring the fire under control. Sadly, a man
and child who had died as a result of the fire were located within the
burnt-out structure.
The incident highlighted the
sensitivity within the community regarding the recent roofing
insulation program as there was much media and community speculation
regarding recently installed roofing insulation at the premises,
however investigations determined that roofing insulation was not a
contributing factor to the cause of the fire. A report has been
prepared for the Coroner.
Road
tanker accident closes F3
At 1139 hours on Monday 12 April,
crews from 304 Gosford, 341 Kariong, 75 Berowra and 228 Berkley Vale
were called to reports of a truck collision on the F3 about one
kilometre north of Joels Bridge on the northbound carriageway. A fruit
truck had collided with the rear of a B-double tanker which contained
43 000 litres of unleaded fuel in the rear tank and 30 000 litres of
diesel in the front tank.
Berowra rescue pumper and heavy
rescue arrived on scene at 1203 hours, closely followed by Kariong and
confirmed that the driver of the fruit truck was trapped. The F3 was
closed to all northbound traffic and the rescue of the trapped driver
was completed by fire crews at around 1416 hours.
When the two trucks collided, the
bull bar of the fruit truck wedged itself under the rear of the
B-double tanker, immobilising it. There were very real fears that if
the bull bar was removed it would tear through the skin of the tanker
and cause a major leak of fuel. It was quickly determined that the
contents of the rear tanker would need to be decanted. Trucking
transport companies have the responsibility of providing suitable
trucks and equipment to carry out these type of decanting operations,
however, on this occasion they had difficulty in providing the correct
equipment on site until about 1821 hours. At this time the decanting
procedure commenced and took until 2244 hours to complete. Hazmat
crews continued air monitoring of the area during the operation with
the area declared safe at 2318 hours and handed over to the RTA and
Police.
The incident caused major traffic
delays to northbound traffic and attracted much media attention NSWFB
crews on scene performed their duties under difficult conditions and
in full accordance with our Standard Operational Guidelines. Retired
Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has been appointed to investigate
issues around the traffic management of the incident and the NSWFB
will be assisting in this enquiry process.
RUMOUR MILL
Rumour:
Is it true that a coaster advertising positions for retained
firefighters was found in a public bar? How does the Brigade
management as a public sector organisation consider this an
appropriate medium to fill retained firefighter positions?
Response:
The retained firefighter recruitment strategies aim to access the
widest possible pool of potential retained firefighters. Market
research and retained firefighter feedback identified that in many
regional towns the best access to potential applicants was in clubs as
this is where men and women from the target age and demographic
profiles often meet and socialise. The coasters were developed as a
marketing tool – they don’t encourage anti-social behaviour and
they simply explain the opportunity available to become a retained
firefighter. To this point they have proved to be very successful as
an information tool.
Rumour:
Is it true that the firefighters have been chosen for Batemans Bay
Station in advance of the establishment of any list or ballot
arrangement?
Response:
No. As
agreed with the union, the NSWFB will be establishing transfer lists
as stated in clause 28.2 of the Award.
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