COMMISSIONER’S BUSINESS
Premier at City of Sydney Fire Station
On Thursday the Premier chose No. 1 City of Sydney as the venue for
a media conference to respond to the Federal Government’s proposed
changes to Australia’s Industrial Relations system. The Premier
announced a NSW constitutional challenge to the new IR laws. FBEU
spokesperson FF Jim Casey was on hand to address the media about what
the federal IR changes could mean for firefighters.
New recruits
On Monday I welcomed 20 new recruits to the NSWFB, a number of whom
are former Retained FFs. It is always a pleasure to meet the recruits,
and reflect back on how excited I was when I received my own “pep-talk”
from the then Chief Officer Fred Davies in 1978.
ComSafe Penrith office opening
Prevention is a vital part of the work we do. Our Act lists the NSWFB’s
role in prevention ahead of response, as it is always better to prevent
damage, death and injury, than to respond after the event. The NSWFB’s
ComSafe Training Services, now within the Risk Management Division,
helps to educate the community, particularly business, about fire
safety. ComSafe, with the help of the Member for Penrith, Karyn Paluzzano
MP, and Director Risk Management, Assistant Commissioner Ken Thompson,
opened an office yesterday at the Museum of Fire, Penrith. This will
make ComSafe’s workplace and emergency management training services
more accessible to businesses, industry and other emergency services
in western Sydney and the Blue Mountains. ComSafe expects the Penrith
office to conduct 1000 courses, training up to 15 000 people, in the
first twelve months. Congratulations to everyone involved!
National Firefighter Championships
I will be in Queensland this weekend cheering on the teams from 210
Balgownie, 279 Dorrigo, 105 Kelso, 405 Nowra and 424 Port Macquarie
who are competing in the National Firefighter Championships on the
Gold Coast from 4 to 6 November. With over 30 teams competing from
around Australia and New Zealand, the event is a great opportunity
for the NSWFB to demonstrate our firefighting skills, teamwork and
determination. While I am in Queensland, QFRS Commissioner Lee Johnson
AFSM and I will sign a Memorandum of Understanding formalising joint
response arrangements to incidents around the NSW-Queensland border.
OPERATIONAL UPDATE
Lane Cove apartment evacuation
The role of the NSWFB in the early stages of a building collapse was
highlighted on Wednesday when a deep hole formed between the road
and a block of residential units in Longueville Road at Lane Cove,
above the Lane Cove tunnel construction site. With part of the building
falling into the hole, and the entire structure in danger of collapse,
NSWFB firefighters from 61 Lane Cove, 36 Crows Nest and 40 Willoughby
evacuated 60 people from the affected units, as well as a number of
construction workers. Fortunately, no one was injured. Congratulations
to all the crews for acting swiftly to evacuate the residents to safety.
Read more on the intranet.
Harden substation fire
On Tuesday a complex incident at the Murrumburrah electricity substation
at Harden was managed effectively by attending officers and crews
from 389 Harden, 266 Cootamundra, 513 Young, 511 Yass, 232 Boorowa,
305 Goulburn, 270 Cowra and 456 Temora. Firefighters attacked an oil
fire in the substation transformer, which reignited numerous times,
and provided a hazmat response to contain leaking oil and firefighting
foam/water which was overflowing toward a nearby creek. The NSWFB,
under the command of Superintendent Steve Davis and Inspector Steve
McGuinness, acted as the lead agency for the response and liaised
with the Department of Environment and Conservation, the Environmental
Protection Agency and TransGrid. Deputy Manager Hazmat, Andy Peake
and Scientific Officer, Paul Beylerian provided advice which was crucial
in progressing the incident. As a result of NSWFB efforts, no evacuations
were required and power was maintained. Congratulations to all firefighters
who worked quickly and professionally to combat the fire and protect
the local environment. Read more on the intranet.
RUMOUR MILL
What is the Rumour Mill for?
Unfortunately, there is a small minority of CC readers who seem to
think that the Rumour Mill can be used as an opportunity to denigrate
others, to create division amongst the NSWFB or with other organisations,
eg the Union, to shop around for a better answer after receiving one
they don’t like, or to promote matters of self-interest. As
previously advised on many occasions, there is no point submitting
items that fall into the above categories. They will not be published.
Following is the last anonymous “rumour” about overtime
in N4 that will be indulged in the pages of CC. I am quite prepared
to meet and discuss major issues of concern with staff, but will not
assist via these pages what, in the absence of any discussion, simply
appears to be an anonymous campaign of division and/or self-interest
that I am sure is not representative of the views of most staff. Genuine
queries and rumours are always welcomed.
Rumour: Is it true that they are doing
overtime at Branxton rescue station almost every day and paying retained
firefighters from Nelsons Bay and Singleton overtime rates to fill
the shortages instead of using permanent firefighters? The overtime
should be going to permanent firefighters first as this is our primary
job.
Response: The current shortages at Branxton Fire
Station, which is a Primary Rescue Accredited Unit, are for Rescue
Qualified Firefighters or Motor Drivers.
Under agreements made with the FBEU on 11 November 2004 and 16 December
2004, shortages for Rescue Qualified Firefighters at any station in
Zone North 4 are filled by firefighters within North 4 with Rescue
qualifications. The only Rescue Qualified Firefighters in North 4
are Retained Firefighters. Shortages for Rescue Qualified Firefighters
at Branxton are therefore filled by similarly qualified Retained Firefighters
from Singleton in the first instance, being closest to Branxton, and
then Nelsons Bay.
If Retained Firefighters within North 4 are unavailable to fill Rescue
shortages, the Agreement with the FBEU allows for Permanent Firefighters
with Rescue qualifications in Zone North 3 to then fill the shortages.
The Agreement with the FBEU also allows for Retained Firefighters
to fill motor driving shortages for Class 2 Pumpers. Shortages for
non-Rescue qualified Firefighters at Branxton are filled with North
4 Permanent Firefighters.
NEWS IN BRIEF
BBQ and Backyard Safety campaign
The weather is warming up and it’s time to remind the community
about barbecue safety. Materials, including a template media release
and fact sheet, are available on the intranet to help stations spread
the word through local media outlets. You may consider copying the
General Barbecue Safety fact sheet and distributing it to barbecue
retailers in your local area to provide to customers. Let’s
see if we can reduce the number of barbecue fires this summer!
NSWFB Sports Association News
A fit and healthy workforce is of key importance to the NSWFB. There
are plenty of activities to get involved in through the NSWFB Sports
Association – have a look at the latest newsletter on the Association
web site to get some ideas.
New Woman Magazine Firefighter Competition
A number of NSWFB stations have received a letter from New Woman magazine
asking firefighters to enter a ‘hot men’ competition.
The NSWFB has worked hard to build a professional reputation over
the years and this type of promotion, which some may simply see as
light-hearted, can potentially do significant damage. If you are considering
entering the competition, please seriously consider the negative impact
this could have on our image. We are an organisation comprised of
fit, healthy men and women from diverse backgrounds who are extremely
professional, and we should be proud of it. Unfortunately, this is
not what is being portrayed by the competition. If anyone does decide
to participate, they must observe the policy on unauthorised use of
the NSWFB uniform and logo.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Blue Mountains CFU handover
Ten Community Fire Units at Blaxland, Glenbrook and Mount Riverview
in the Blue Mountains will be officially handed over by the Member
for Penrith, Karyn Paluzzano MP, at Glenbrook Fire Station on Sunday.
Congratulations to 301 Glenbrook, Region West CFU Coordinator Steve
Muscat and CFU Manager Terry Munsey. I’d like to make special
mention of Glenbrook Retained Firefighter Bob Maxwell, who is in charge
of the local CFUs and has put a lot of time and effort into the program.
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, please contact Public Affairs Officers:
(West) 9265 2613, (South) 9265 2802 or (North) 9265 2631
Cut off for submissions is 10:00am Thursday