SA Firefighter

Any word if the new MFS station will have any impact on CFS in the area?

Quote from: Gfoss on January 24, 2013, 03:58:12 PM
I have a question regarding the required first aid certificate. The MFS website clearly states that it must contain the code HLTFA301B code which i had but has now expired. When looking to book to update it, the code is now HLTFA311A and they claim that it supersedes the other one. I have tried to ask the MFS but cant get a response. Does anyone know if they will accept this code and maybe they just need to update the website?? Id hate to turn up to the testing and they tell me they wont accept it!! Cheers.

Yes, HLTFA311A is the current version of the Apply First Aid course (formerly known as Senior First Aid) and supersedes HLTFA301C which superseded HLTFA301B. From what you say MFS are a few versions behind on their website.

Quote from: Bagyassfirey on January 23, 2013, 05:05:21 PM
23-01-13 18:32:12   MFS: *CFSRES INC0075 23/01/13 18:31 RESPOND GRASS FIRE, ALARM LEVEL: 1, HEASLIP RD/WOMMA RD PENFIELD,MAP:ADL 40 L15,TG 102, ==SMALL FIRE ON MEDIAN STRIP :AIRDESK ELZ331 VIRG34P R VIRGQRV : - CFS Virginia Repsonse

Just plain stupid now!! There's gotta be an arsonist about surely!!

Time to get the Burnside 'in season' burnoff experts in to take out this patch of grass so there's nothing left for the culprit to light up.

Quote from: pumprescue on April 03, 2012, 08:38:32 AM

Quote from: Fire000 on April 02, 2012, 10:16:59 PM

Quote from: fire8029 on April 02, 2012, 04:22:47 PM
02-04-12 16:39:23 LYNDOCH MANAGEMENT MEETING CANCELLED TONIGHT & SHORT MEETING WILL BE HELD AFTER MAINTENANCE ON WEDNESDAY TO DISCUSS TOMORROWS MEETING. KINDEST REGARDS JACQUE :) - CFS Lyndoch Info

going to have a meeting on Wednesday to discuss Tuesday's meeting???

New station being built - likely to be a mgmt meeting to discuss outcomes from a building related meeting.

Speaking of which, does this new station allow for the group tanker, as all the paperwork I have seen shows it as a 2 bay station, which would only allow for the 34P and 24?

Don't they have a large 2 bay shed down the back built within the last 5 years from brigade/community funds - the group bwc is likely to stay in here. Only the 34P and 24 would go in the new engine bay.

Quote from: Bagyassfirey on April 03, 2012, 11:13:51 AM
I reckon the pilots flying the air tractors would have plenty of experience anyway not including the days of continuous bombing at Wilmington and wilpena!

I agree use them but calling on the volunteers to man the strip to fill them maybe it's starting to abuse the volunteer...maybe DENR should have trained personnel to perform these duties when they are using the aircraft in a support role!

Agree, perhaps training some airbase support crew is something DEH need to look into.

Quote from: SA Firey on April 02, 2012, 01:19:03 PM

Quote from: Darius on April 02, 2012, 07:03:10 AM
yeah but if we're not careful we'll make DEH too scared to do any burns then SA will end up like states like Victoria.  I do think DEH seem to be relying far too much on aircraft though.

CFS:*CFSRES: BOMBERS 582/585, BD500 AND WOODSIDE FUEL TANKER RESPOND GRASS FIRE, DEEP CREEK, 217 DEGREES, 92 KMS FROM WAB 2/04/2012 1:45:58 PM - CFS R1 HQ Response

It has taken off!

Very easy to jump to wrong conclusions from a pager messages. Aircraft can be used for a variety of reasons, many of which are strategic and not in a "CFS bailing them out" mentality- i.e. to support ground crews or strength control lines during a prescribed burning. Sometimes it's also safer to use aircraft to lay down a wet control line, than to put crews in there.

Is it better they burn out these area now or should we have a wildfire rip through on a bad day sometime down the track.

Aircraft are a state resource, they may as well put them to use than have them collecting dust at Woodside  - it helps CFS justify keeping them all (Wingfield was good example of this), gives the pilots and ground crew invaluable training and helps make prescribed burning safer by jumping on any areas of concern during a prescribed burn straight away.

Quote from: fire8029 on April 02, 2012, 04:22:47 PM
02-04-12 16:39:23 LYNDOCH MANAGEMENT MEETING CANCELLED TONIGHT & SHORT MEETING WILL BE HELD AFTER MAINTENANCE ON WEDNESDAY TO DISCUSS TOMORROWS MEETING. KINDEST REGARDS JACQUE :) - CFS Lyndoch Info

going to have a meeting on Wednesday to discuss Tuesday's meeting???

New station being built - likely to be a mgmt meeting to discuss outcomes from a building related meeting.

The SAAS research pages are displayed on this feed:

http://paging1.sacfs.org/public.php

Quote from: Pipster on January 20, 2012, 04:56:50 PM
Everything else about the tour down under has had massive amounts of planning, and contingencies...... not sure why there wasn't a clean up crew too!!

Pip

Agreed Pip, if they can have a dedicated spotted plane keeping an eye on fire activity along the TDU route, and at one stage 2x rotary wing bombers and a spotter platform on active standby, a cleanup/chainsaw crew should have been a given.

This was not an emergency event............ more like worried event organizers mitigating embarrassment with Adelaide in the spotlight. AdelaideNow reported "have been no warnings announced over race radio". If this was the case, perhaps the TDU organisers were trying to keep it all hush hush............. that was never going to happen.

Quote from: straps on January 18, 2012, 05:38:42 PM
Am about to commence testing and hopefully roll out GRN paging for St John Ambulance SA...

Was hoping that someone could advise of what the email address looks like for sending pager messages via a mail program (i.e outlook etc)
and
We are also waiting for Motorola to provide the password for the website to page via the web / online - Is anyone happy to PM me with the password..

Also, we have purchased the serial cable and housing to do our own programming to the pagers, but no user guide, anyone have any instructions on how to code pagers etc.. (Still chasing up SAGRN / Motorola).

Cheers
Shane

Why is that you're seeking a password over a public forum and not through the official channels? Surely St John Ambulance SA has someone/an external contractor to organise their radios/ GRN requirements. Sounds a bit dodge you're doing it over a public forum. In at St. Johns at Unley tomorrow, so will ask what the go is with this sort of thing. SAFECOM were the ones who commissioned the new paging website when Link went bust, perhaps you should be contacting them.

Furthermore, pager programming should also be done through the completed through the official channels (e.g. CFS has a contactor who can do it, along with selected staff). By doing this, pagers allocation (and which capcodes have been programmed into each) can be tracked via the appropriate SAGRN pager fleet map.

Hi all,

Trying to setup a Uniden UBC355XLT to scan the SAGRN paging feed. No problems tuning the scanner to 148.8125mhz. Connecting it via 3.5mm - 3.5mm cable to the mic input on a computer. Having trouble getting the feed to work in PDW. Anyone have any advice on what settings i should be selecting (configuration, sample rate, etc)?

Cheers

Barossa Group seem to be rather happy about their new QRV acquisition.

20:50:04 21-12-11 FYI THE EAGLE HAS LANDED AND WILL TAKE UP RESIDENCE AT MT PLEASANT. BAROSSA GROUP OFFICER 21:18 21/12 - CFS Barossa Group Info

then

20:52:47 21-12-11 One small step for a Fire Fighter. One Quick attack for a Fire. - CFS Barossa Group Info

From Adelaide Now 16/11/2011:

"THE state's fire and emergency services call centre will be boosted with extra phone operators after the State Government announced a $1.2 million annual funding increase in the mid-year budget review today.

The funds will increase MFS staff by 12 full-time employees working across 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Treasurer Jack Snelling said the money would "increase the capacity" of the centre to respond to triple-0 emergency calls.

He said additional personnel would be on-call during emergencies.

Emergency Services Minister Jennifer Rankine said the centre received more than 43,000 calls in the 2010-11 financial year as the emergency call and dispatch centre for MFS, CFS and SES."


Does this mean Adelaide Fire will put on a compliment of dedicated Call Takers/CAD Operators, or will they stick to the seconded MFS firefighter model?

Quote from: 6739264 on November 05, 2011, 09:59:18 AM
4x Goliath lights. Very good lights, cold to touch, easily strapped to anything or sat in their stand. Cheap as well compared to some of the systems mentioned above, and far more appropriate for close quarters work, eg: RCR

The Pelican lights are also cool to touch, very bright and unlike the Goliath lights (fluro tube system) are battery powered (sealed lead acid - approx 12hrs at full brightness), so do not require a generator to run them - reducing noise around say an RCR job. Though as you mention, the Pelican lights aren't cheap.... then again you get what you pay for.

Agree that an e-newsletter is probably more cost effective and quicker to get news out.

Interesting to note that on the Members Only section of the CFS website, under the "Operational Information" tab, there is a "CFS Operational Activity Summary" which provides a good snapshop of the NT deployments, and some of the fires in the far north. Would be good if sections like this were better advertised, rather than stumbling across it by chance.

It was good to see newsletters being put out (via the website) from the Rural Training, Compartment and Driver Training sections around 2008. Seems these newsletters have ceased to exist..... shame as it gave a good insight into what was happening in each section.

Hi All,


Does anyone have info on recommended (readily available) digital capable scanners to use with the SA GRN? Are there any stores which will supply and program the units ready to go? Not too keen on importing for the US/etc.. and having to do the programming myself.


I have a had a look at http://www.sascan.net.au/?page=infPages/programming however the scanners discussed on this page do not appear to be readily available.


cheers,

Quote from: pumprescue on December 20, 2010, 10:47:50 PM
The new managers cars you can hear from a 100 miles away, the normal ambulance you can't hear until its on you.

Hi Pumprescue, do you mean the sprint cars you can hear from 100 miles away?

Not sure if everyone's seen the youtube video here, where would we be without Keith Conlon. Gotta love the description of "hi tech flashing LED lights"

SA Ambulance Service SPRINT Animation

Hi all,

Just wondering if someone could bring me up to speed on the requirements for a CFS member to drive a CFS appliances on the fireground.

Obviously there is the requirement to have the appropriate license class (MR, HR, etc), and i was under the impression the Captain had the final say in terms of approving a certain member for driving X vehicle under X priority during either day and/ore night conditions.

Someone mentioned to me that it's now a CFS requirement for members to have completed the 'Drive Vehicles Under Operational Conditions' course to be able to drive on the fireground.

Could someone please give me some info on what this course involves (does it replace the 'drive offroad course') and is it a requirement to  to drive a CFS appliances on the fireground? Pip, as a Captain, perhaps you might have an insight into this.

If it is a requirement, i wonder how the remote Brigades get the truck out the door - i can't see 400+ Brigades having been training in it since its introduction.

The sad thing is, it's usually not until something happens (ie. a close call or a life is lost) that our Government actually does anything (or says it's going to do something) about the critical things our society needs (e.g. emergency services equipment, etc).


There's thousands of dollars for Italian towns, obscure "contractors" employed to advise in India, and talk of a football stadium in the city, yet we don't have enough money for our hospitals and emergency services. Makes me wonder some time.

Hi all,


Just wondering if anyone has some info on what the triggers are for a CFS area to change to MFS. Does it consider population density, or is it all about the risks within the area (schools, commercial, industrial, high rise etc).

I notice the Government has today announced the long-term growth plan for Mt Barker, including a blueprint for delivering a $550 million infrastructure support package, do you think this new development will be trigger?

Obviously any plan to make the change would need to be in consultation with the vollies, but at the end of the day it's about providing the best service to the community - and there is no guarantee that a CFS station can turn out a truck (although stations like Barker and Naracoorte do a awesome job).

I wonder what model of MFS station they'd go to at Barker, paid retained,paid daytime crew, or urban response with Barker CFS as rural crew as well as providing backup to Barker MFS (similar to what happened with Seaford).

Then again, with our current Government, they'd be reluctant to spend the capital turning Barker to MFS......... so in my opinion Barker CFS is safe for now.

If the basket and pre-filter/ one way valve are installed, this should stop most of the larger foreign objects.

Things like muddy/sandy water are a different story - likely to put excess stress and wear on the pump housing and impeller(s) when compared to pumping clean water. Fire pumps have to be designed to handle this type of water on some occasions (i.e draughting from creeks or dams, however extended operation in flood waters is likely to send your truck off for a pump service sooner than you may have expected.

You're right in saying that there are sludge pumps designs specifically for pumping this 'dirty' water. However in a situation like Stockport, any available pump goes and you have to make do with what's available.

Quote from: Hazmat206 on December 13, 2010, 10:44:55 AM
01:33:48 13-12-10 MFS: *CFSRES INC003 13/12/10 01:33,RESPOND Rescue Animal,23 EUGENE CR,PARAFIELD GARDENS MAP 70 G 12 TG182,TWO DOGS STUCK TOGETHER ONE CHOKING,SAL321 - MFS Salisbury 321

Poor dogs, wonder how that happened

Quote from: pumprescue on December 07, 2010, 11:00:38 PM
It is interesting how the job stacking happens, units pike Whyalla and Kapunda getting smashed with no backup and people ringing back that haven't been attended to, do they ask for strike teams or even simple things like CFS or MFS help?

I agree that the SES are not always as quick to call for CFS/MFS mutual aid assistance as they should. In situations like tonight, SES Units and CFS Brigades need to be used together (and as the night went on most CFS resources ended up going active). Would it not be a bad idea to have a CFS Liason Officer at each SES region to coordinate the CFS resources, and consdier things such as maintaining BA and RCR coverage to the various regions. All too often we see SES stack on the tasks, no fault of their own as they don't control the weather, but for crying out loud call for help and do the right thing by your community. It's ok to admit you need backup from CFS and MFS.... no one will think any less of your organisation. In fact you will gain the respect that you can think logically.


This may just be my observation, but it looks poor to see the SES SCC carrying on with its blinkers on, only considering its own SES resources. From what i can see it's mainly Adel Fire calling out the CFS Brigades, with some local cooperation between SES-CFS at the unit/region level. Perhaps SES need the ability/ authorisation to page CFS Brigades for responses, but this would be best served with a CFS liason overseeing to ensure CFS coverage remains (as discussed above).

Well done to all the SES, CFS and MFS crews out there tonight. A FANTASTIC job in testing circumstances. Amazing what volunteers can do.

Quote from: Alex on December 05, 2010, 08:05:58 PM
More interesting would be the lack of a rescue on the initial page.

Perhaps it was established that a rescue appliance was not required. If anything a jacknifed truck would be a job for a heavy haulage company. Would have been a different story if there were entrapments.

Quote from: bert on December 05, 2010, 03:54:54 PM
No Burn over occurred.  B34Ps Pump failed during attacking one of the flanks of the fire, leaving the crew with no pressure. The truck was on burnt ground, so the guys just waited until the flank went past and it was safe to drive out. Another crew got anxious when they saw the truck disappear in the smoke and called it in.
At one stage N24P became stuck on some rocks, damaged lockers and tyres etc. Other crews knocked down the fire before it got to them.
Certainly agree that the newer trucks are not built for that nature of work.

Timely reminder for us all that pumps can and do fail. Good to hear the crew involved had their heads screwed on and went to/ were on burnt ground.


Agree with the above comments that the new trucks simply don't cut the mustard in terms of ground clearance and ability to go offroad. As much as i hate the things, the old school Hino FT163's are fantastic offroad and can leave some/most of the newer appliances in their tracks. A good example was over at Ngarkat a few years back going through the Mallee scrub.


Trouble is the funding, Arthur and his merry men are forced to make the money they are allocated go as far as it can - and in many cases this involves designing a dual purpose rural/urban appliance. Things like lockers close to the ground simply do not work on rural trucks, they're asking to be ripped off on a log/rock. Positive to see a rollout of more QRVs, perhaps this will help on rural jobs?