Courier article 1/08/07 about hills CFS

[bittenyakka]

This was in the Hills Courier on the 1/8/07

[Jono]

"The Minister said there was no plan to bring the MFS to Stirling and Mount Barker in the short or medium term"

Hahahahahaha, Yes believe what the minister said..........

Just like she said to myself and Seaford's LT4 in person that there would be no MFS station at Seaford in the next 2 years......

[rescue5271]

After the email I got from the minister sounds like she is the one passing the buck/blame....

[uniden]

The difference is Mt Barker can get 2 appliances out the door...

[SA Firey]

The difference is Mt Barker can get 2 appliances out the door...

Whereas some outer MFS retained stations now get CFS to respond to cover their shortfall

[uniden]

Yes they do, but remember that some of these MFS stations only have 1 appliance.. Not to mention some of the towns that have CFS and MFS shoudlnt have. There is simply not the workload or the people to support both services not to mention the towns that have SES who are RCR.
Not that I am bagging the SES but if you have a small town with all of these services and they all struggle for crew, how can any of them respond urgently.
We heard some years ago when ESAU first started that duplication would be eliminated, we are all still waiting for this to happen.
Regional MFS stations participate in a competition drill in their own station and have their facilities inspected and ranked. One of these stations was not even able to participate in that this year.
Things need to change.

[SA Firey]

It is a global thing where times have changed and now both members of family work to pay the mortgage etc.

Towns and centres that had an abundance of members now struggle to get a crew some days,and we are not alone on that.

[Chance]

It does make you wonder, with all the bad press about the cfs, why would any one put there hand up to voulenteer, (yes i know to help the community. but seriously what sort of nutters are we to do give something to the community when the government has forgotten a important fact. we cant afford to replace all vollies with paid staff..... whats that advert over 50% of australians volunteer.... i volunteer for differnt organisations to repay what has been done for me and in the hopes some one will be there when i need help again. We all want things for free but the government have to wath they dont get what they wish for....

[big bronto]

I think the point the Barker boys have been trying to make for a few years now is why bother doing the job if you get no support from the region or cfs management....

How can you take a heavy pumper away from an area only growing in size and urban call rate.

Why not give them another rural truck like they wanted to support the rural area, but leave them with 2 Urban appliances to support the urban sprawl???

If you ain't gonna do this why do the job at all, 2nd rate trucks, 2nd rate fire service.

[Smallflame]

I think the point the Barker boys have been trying to make for a few years now is why bother doing the job if you get no support from the region or cfs management....

How can you take a heavy pumper away from an area only growing in size and urban call rate.

Why not give them another rural truck like they wanted to support the rural area, but leave them with 2 Urban appliances to support the urban sprawl???

If you ain't gonna do this why do the job at all, 2nd rate trucks, 2nd rate fire service.

Marry me..

[TillerMan]

Woo woo, maybe you can use Mt Barkers trucks for wedding cars...

[big bronto]

smallflame you need help...

[RescueHazmat]

Woo woo, maybe you can use Mt Barkers trucks for wedding cars...

CFS trucks in weddings.. - Seen that before..   

[Smallflame]

Jeez, the controversy. My sense of humour is sadly wasted 

[SA Firey]

Jeez, the controversy. My sense of humour is sadly wasted 

Or your reputation

[Zippy]

cmon guys dont put out smallflame haha  pun intended

[Smallflame]

Jeez, the controversy. My sense of humour is sadly wasted 

Or your reputation

Which reputation? The obnoxious, the opinionated, or the loud?

[CFS_Firey]

Jeez, the controversy. My sense of humour is sadly wasted 

Or your reputation

Which reputation? The obnoxious, the opinionated, or the loud?

Are they the only choices we have?

[SA Firey]

Jeez, the controversy. My sense of humour is sadly wasted 

Or your reputation

Which reputation? The obnoxious, the opinionated, or the loud?

So did he say YES

[RescueHazmat]

Im lost....

Maybe back to the courier article?

[Smallflame]

I will agree with that... Now back to regular programming...

[6739264]

Sadly, the same old argument holds true. There is no way in hell that CFS can guarantee a response to any emergency at anytime. That is merely how a volunteer organisation works.

I know that the special people from Mt. Barker will no doubt yell, scream, hoot and holler that they can get two trucks out the door, therefore they deserve to remain volunteer, but if they really worried about the community, they would be supportive of a move to have full-time SAMFS staffed stations in their area. Keep in mind, by the time they get to the station itself, a full time station would already be on the road...

The same thing holds true in all built up urban areas, Mt. Barker, Seaford, Mt. Lofty Group. Nothing can guarantee service like stations staffed 24/7.

Don't get me wrong, I love the SACFS angle on things, but at some point we all have to think out a bit further than just ourselves.

[bittenyakka]

Lofty group Needs CFS solely because if there is a situation along the lines of another ash wednesday or Canberra in the hills then the fact that there is so many stations so close means there is a large number of vehicles in that area. if MFS move in to Stirling then there might be 1 mabey 2 scanias. So even if they only have 34s there will still be CFS in Lofty area.

[6739264]

Mate, you do realise that fire services the country and world over resource their stations with appliances appropriate to the risks that that station will face. You do realise that SAMFS run with more than just GP Pumps, which happen to be a Scania build? They run 14s, tankers and a whole heap of other appliances more than just 'Scanias'.

No-one is suggesting that the CFS will dissapear, merely that in certain areas it need to be looked at that for your urban response, you have a 24/7 staffed station. Mind you, with a single fire service, running both volley and permo services you could fix this problem no worries.

Look at how some of the other states run their services, especially look at the roles of the bushfire brigades in states such as QLD and NSW.

[rescue5271]

if they can get out the door with two appliances and meet the currant SFEC and get there in the time frame that is required then so be it....The thing that the community or the state could not afford is more paid station and lets face it what would paid staff do all day at barker or stirling sit and watch TV all day or just drive around town..... Lets face it when there is a large job in the hills the MFS are always there to help local crews in asset protection..... Keep the good work up barker/stirling and stand up for your right as a volunteer to provide a service that is FREE to the community and one that encourages locals to join and provide support to their community...