State
election – new government elected
Following
the change of NSW Government arising from last weekend’s state
election, FRNSW executives and I have prepared briefings for the
incoming Premier and Minister. I will advise all staff
immediately when our new Minister is announced.
Japan
USAR Task
Force home safe and sound
On
Tuesday 22 March I welcomed home our USAR Task Force on their return
from earthquake and tsunami devastated communities in
Japan
. Along with the Japanese Ambassador to
Australia
Mr Shigekazu Sato, Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Acting
Chief Executive of the Ambulance Service Mike Willis, I
congratulated the Task Force members on their professionalism,
courage and dedication. Ambassador Sato gave a very personal and
heartfelt thanks on behalf of the Japanese people, and also of his
own family who live near the devastated areas. See the
intranet article for more detail.
Change
Your Clock, Change Your
Battery
Daylight
Saving ends this Sunday 3 April, and once again fire services across
Australia
, along with campaign supporter Duracell, are urging householders to
change their smoke alarm batteries when they turn their clocks back.
I ask that you assist in getting this important safety message out
to local media if you haven’t done so already. The Change
Your Clock, Change Your Battery template media release is available
on the intranet.
Many
crews will also hold information sessions about maintaining and
installing smoke alarms at Bunnings Warehouse stores across NSW this
weekend. Watch out for our crew from 71 Castle Hill as they promote
the campaign during a cooking segment with Better
Homes and Gardens chef `Fast Ed’ this
Friday night. We’ll also be spreading the message on Mornings
with Kerri-Anne on Friday. See the intranet
article for more details.
International
Women’s Day event
To
help celebrate International Women’s Day, we held a seminar at
City of
Sydney
fire station last Wednesday, facilitated by Julie McCrossin.
Julie, a freelance journalist who previously worked as a broadcaster
with ABC radio and in television for 20 years, interviewed various
FRNSW personnel. Her bright and engaging style and clear
commitment to social justice was well received by attendees and our
audience who watched on FireTube. My thanks to those who agreed to
be interviewed for showcasing the commitment and achievements of
women in FRNSW.
Seniors
Week DVD launch
Last
Friday I attended the launch, at City of Sydney fire station, of a
new fire prevention resource for seniors – a DVD featuring co-star
of the Mother
and Son TV series, Henri Szeps OAM. The DVD,
masterminded by Senior Firefighter
Melanie Rebane
of the Community Safety Directorate, shows seniors the most common
causes of fires in the home, and how to avoid them. The MC, retired
Assistant Commissioner
Bob
Dobson AFSM, commended SF Rebane on her vision and hard work in
bringing the project to fruition. Henri Szeps gave an amusing, but
thought provoking talk and congratulated FRNSW on a great
initiative. The DVD will be distributed to all fire stations, to all
public libraries, and will be available
on our website as well as the website of the University of the
Third Age.
National
Young Leaders event
Yesterday
I was a keynote speaker in front of 7,000 eager school students from
years 5, 6 and 7 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre who were
attending the Halogen Foundation’s National Young Leaders Day. The
purpose of the day was to inspire and influence a generation of
young people to become leaders and positive role models in their
communities. I told them of my personal journey starting as a
bushfire brigade volunteer at the age of 13, and of my personal
philosophy about leadership: that it starts and finishes with people
and honesty, and treating others with dignity and respect. Other
presenters included Jessica Watson, youngest to sail solo and
unassisted around the world; Kurt Fearnley, World Champion
wheelchair athlete; Talia Fowler, one of the top 23 classical
dancers in the world in her age group; the Phly Dance Crew; and the
Halogen Foundation’s General Manager Mike Martin. It was an
inspiration to participate, and it was also the first time in my
life that I have been mobbed by people wanting my autograph!
Firefighter
Championships
On
19-20 March, I was proud to watch 19 teams of firefighters from
across the state taking part in the first (wet and muddy) round of
the 2011 Firefighter Championships at Morisset Showground. 105
Kelso were declared the overall champions with 1305 points, while
Kootingal RFS came in second with 983 and in third place, Dorrigo on
754. Thank you and well done to all involved. Does your station have
a ‘demo’ team? If not, why not try putting one together? The new
events are contemporary and use the latest equipment. Apart from the
competition and camaraderie, your crew will become far more
efficient, and safer, due to the extra competition training.
Health
and fitness
I
have received feedback highlighting an increase in the number of
Station Commanders taking a proactive approach towards health and
fitness promotion. Well done! The health and fitness team has
been involved with health education sessions, programming, goal
setting and the provision of support materials to numerous staff to
assist them in continuing to make positive steps towards maintaining
a strong health and fitness outlook. When the turnout tones, pagers
or SMS go off, in reality we have no idea what we are going to face.
That is why staying fit and healthy are so essential in our line of
work. It’s never too late to start to get fit and to lose some
unwanted kilos.
Improving
governance and reducing opportunities for corruption
As
part of our broader review of governance arrangements, we are
working to strengthen our Audit and Risk Committee, in
accordance with Treasury policy requirements and with an
increased emphasis on the implementation and follow up of internal
audit findings. As a result of an internal review process, we
have engaged Deloitte as our provider of Internal Audit Services up
to 30 June 2014. The team from Deloitte has already met with some
of our staff and they will be: preparing an Internal Audit Plan for
the next financial year; reviewing incident ground refreshment and
records management practices; and developing fraud and corruption
risk assessment tools from directorate to station level. For more
information about the internal audit program, please contact Andrew
Graham, Assistant Director Strategy and Governance on 9265 3914.
FRNSW
Ball 2011
This
year’s Fire and Rescue Ball will be held in the Grand Ballroom of
the Hilton Hotel in
Sydney
. With many great raffle prizes to be drawn on the night, a
3-course meal, drinks, a live band and dancing, this is night not to
be missed. With a new name and a new era you have the opportunity to
be part of something very special. Bookings for tables are now
being taken, so be quick so you don’t miss out – see the
intranet for more details.
FRNSW
helps RFS to start its own CFU program
Following
the success of our CFU Program, FRNSW is helping the RFS to start
its own similar program in RFS Districts that will act as an entry
level for new RFS volunteers. While the RFS program shares
similar objectives to our CFU program, each agency will have its own
training, PPE and equipment. For more information, see the
intranet article.
INCIDENTS
House
fire at Bankstown
At
1414 hours on Monday 21 March, firefighters from 62
Bankstown
and 47 Revesby responded to a house fire at
Bankstown
. When the crew arrived, they encountered a rapidly growing
fire with heavy smoke issuing from the second level of a two storey
house. The fire quickly spread to the roof, threatening
exposures, and a defensive strategy was adopted as a 2nd Alarm was
requested. Crews from 64 Lakemba, 34 Riverwood, 52
Campsie, the ladder platform from 21 Kogarah and the
Duty Commander
Georges
River
all responded. The fire totally destroyed the house,
with the roof collapsing during extinguishment. The stop message was
sent at 1735 hours.
4th
Alarm house fire and rescue at Birchgrove
At
1938 hours on Monday 21 March, crews were called to fire in a
three-level terrace in Birchgrove. The crew from 12 Balmain were on
scene within five minutes and realised that a person was trapped on
the top level. Due to the close proximity of the fire affected
building to several adjoining premises, they immediately raised the
response to a 2nd Alarm. 17 Drummoyne arrived shortly after
and assisted in deploying an extension ladder to the top floor to
affect the rescue of the person who was conveyed to hospital
suffering minor smoke inhalation.
There
was evidence of heavy internal fire loading and real fears the fire
would extend to numerous adjoining terraces and the response was
raised to a 4th Alarm. It was considered too dangerous to continue
an internal attack and a defensive external strategy was deployed
using three pumps, two aerials and crews with hand lines located on
an adjoining roof. A collapse zone was also established around the
premises.
A
‘position in hand’ message was finally sent at 2115 hours after
the fire had caused substantial structure damage and destroyed all
the contents of the building. A fire duty was maintained overnight.
Well done to all crews involved in effecting a rapid rescue and
preventing fire spread to adjoining premises. Crews attended from 12
Balmain, 17 Drummoyne, 38 Pyrmont, 22 Leichhardt, 3 The Rocks, 18
Glebe, 1 City of Sydney, 10 Redfern, 13 Alexandria Hazmat, 9 Hazmat
and ICV Alpha.
Massive
clean up after 5th Alarm factory fire and hazmat at Kurnell
At
0552 hours on Friday 25 March, crews responded to the first reports
of a chemical fire burning within a building on
Cook Street
, Kurnell. The crew from 54 Cronulla were on scene within seven and
a half minutes and reported large volumes of smoke from a 40m x 40m
building of three levels and the response was immediately raised to
a 2nd Alarm. Crews quickly became aware that over 1,000 litres of
hydrogen peroxide was involved and that water could not be used in a
direct attack onto the fire.
The
fire quickly spread to other products stored within the building
including bulk acids and corrosives. All efforts were directed to
the structure around the fire to prevent it from spreading to
adjoining premises and the response was raised to a 5th Alarm. Due
to the smoke plume, police were advised to establish an 800m
exclusion zone around the site and several hundred householders were
awoken and relocated.
Captain Cook Drive
was closed to all traffic causing severe traffic disruption
throughout the southern suburbs for most of the day. Aerial
appliances were used in an attempt to contain the fire and RFS crews
assisted in water relays throughout the day. Hazmat crews played a
vital role in air sampling and containing contaminated water run
off. FireAir1 was deployed as an aerial observation post and local
council resources were required to provide large quantities of sand
to contain the run-off from the site.
Foam
was used to finally extinguish the bulk of the fire by Friday night
with the last of evacuated residents being allowed to return to
their homes at 1800 hours. A massive clean up operation of
contaminated water continued throughout the weekend and the site was
not declared safe until Monday afternoon. Investigations into the
cause of the fire are currently being conducted. Fortunately no
injuries were advised. Throughout the lengthy four day operation
numerous crews from across the
Sydney
area attended the incident.
ASK
THE COMMISSIONER
Q
Is it true that following a recent fire, adjoining stations were
taken off-line because they had exhausted all of their air cylinders
and no truck was available to deliver replacements? Is it also true
that there were long delays in calling in a retained firefighter to
staff the LSV during a 5th Alarm at Warwick Farm? Isn’t it time
for management to admit a mistake was made with the new LSV
procedures and go back to having them staffed 24/7 by permanent
staff?
A:
Obviously this area needs significant work, and the arrangements
are not working as envisaged.Logistic Support Vehicles (LSVs) in
Sydney have not been available on a number of occasions and this
has resulted in some delays in the transport of replacement SCBA
cylinders, however operational capability and coverage has never
been significantly compromised. The changes to the staffing of the
LSVs on 1 October 2010 were implemented to provide for the
transfer of permanent staff to Lismore, Batemans Bay, Cessnock,
Maitland and Nelson Bay, with the additional intention of
providing 10/14 positions for firefighters on suitable duties.
The
changes were supported by the Fire Brigade Employee's Union (FBEU).
However it has since been found that the availability of
alternative duties firefighters is variable, and sometimes it is
not possible to staff the LSVs in this way. New ways of
moving internal mail to and from fire stations and other measures
have been successful in reducing the workload of the LSVs and we
are currently looking at options for the remaining functions
carried out by the LSVs. Obviously there needs to be significant
consultation with the FBEU, and staff will be notified of any
new arrangements when these have been finalised, however
operational safety will not be compromised while new arrangements
are investigated.
Q.I
was very interested when reading Fire
& Rescue News, the article on the new
tool to guide resource allocation. The model now used for appliance
allocation, retained stations Class 2 pumper, and permanent stations
Class 3 pumper, with a risk matrix that is primarily staffing, and
incident number related. This is very simplistic, and restricts
accurate pumper allocation for some retained stations.
With
the introduction of a new model, using 20 factors to make up a tool
for planning appliance allocation, will this reflect a Class 3
pumper being made available to a retained station, when the model
indicates the need, and Zone management support the need?
A:
The new
draft resource allocation methodology being developed by
FRNSW is based on an objective assessment of risk in each area. The resource
index, which is to be based on 20 factors, will be used for
planning the staffing and appliance allocation for each current or
new station area. In practice, a higher resource index will
suggest that permanent staffing is required, and also that a
Class 3 pumper should be allocated to that station due
to the level of risk. There may well be one-off cases of
‘special circumstances’ that have not been adequately
considered in the resource index, however in its draft form the
index does link risk, to staff type, to appliance type, as there
is a fairly clear relationship.
Q.
In light of the heavy deployment of USAR staff to both New Zealand
and Japan, are Regional staff, (who are USAR trained, but as a
result of being transferred to a regional station are no longer
used), going to be considered for future deployments?
A:
There
are difficulties in mobilising regional firefighters in a
timely fashion, as well as serious difficulties in back-filling
their positions due to the limited numbers and surge capacity in
regional areas. I know that when disaster strikes, the best comes
out in our people. All of us want to be involved and to assist.
However the reality is that we can’t, and that we have to
maintain normal operations during specialist deployments. As a
disciplined organisation, we have to make decisions based on what
is best overall, and we can easily cover absences in metropolitan
stations, but not in regional. Those who have the benefit of
living and working in regional areas unfortunately will, on the
downside, have less ability to participate in specialised
qualifications and operations.
Q:
Is
it true that with the election of a new State Government, some
senior FRNSW executives will be leaving us?
A:
Certainly
not to my knowledge.
COMMISH’S
CORNER