FRS and Bushfires

[WPXZBP]

Appreciate that, just thought it would be a better idea.

Never know what around the corner I guess, I was in Toodyay recently and noticed they have an Emergency Serivces Centre as you said. It was the FS, SES and SJA all in one building.

What a great idea, during operations they all work out of the same building. The Police also use it as a command post I was told also.

We may see this idea in the metro area soon, SES and FS multi-skilling.

Having emergency services in one building is called co-location. Kulin has it too. You can see it here. There is evidence where it works but there is also evidence where different services do not get on well. I know that FRS, SJA and SES where I live work well together but there is no way that we will co-locate. SJA own their building, SES are happy where they are and FRS wish to be by ourselves. We don't want clashes re: who has the training room/meeting room on a particular day or any other reason for causing a problem with a relationship that works well.

[dazla]

Is it not possible to multi-skill volunteers....as in Train SES as Ambulance Officers and visa versa.

[WPXZBP]

It is possible but with the pressures of normal life plus volunteerism it gets difficult. I don't know that all members of one service would want to be trained in skills of another service.

[eukanuba]

i believe that Red trucks are for House fires rescues etc and that the White/Yellow trucks are for bushfires. If the FRS actually had vehicles capable of going into the bush then it would be different, however, they only have the light tanker. U go to these FRS 3rd alarm fires and u hav half a dozen Scanniers on the side of the road doing nothing. What also concerns me is that when my local FRS brigade goes to a scrub fire and calls a 2nd alarm, the vol FRS go to it. That leaves no FRS to attend a house fire or what have u. Instead they have to get an FRS brigade from another suburb (and it has happened).

Totally agree with you, FRS should be dealing with issues only within the townsite - bins, blackboys ( sorry, grass tree's ), structure and vehicle fires..

I think you might be a bit misinformed about the new procedures - with kwinana vols, hope valley will call second alarm.. and kwinana vol's usually are not mobilised.. they'll call success or another station - they'll usually only call us now if it's really hitting the fan.. and that's a bit rude imo. ( 3rd alarm or higher )

The frs have been in the townsite for 50 years, a little respect from FESA for the work the guys do would have been appreciated.. cutting people out of a car accident at 3 in the morning in the pouring rain in the middle of winter is no one's idea of fun.. nor are the other mundane jobs we do for the community - i.e. hydrants etc..

I didn't see to many other stations claiming a 600 fire call list per year like kwinana did over the numerous years we've been going..

I'm all for letting the BFS do the stuff that the BFS does best - and that's putting the wet stuff on the red stuff.. ( it's where I learned to walk through flames and lost my fear )

But I can't see how putting bushies in SCBA and training them in hazmat decontamination procedures will help them ?

Bushies fight different fires and have different skill set's to the FRS.. and it should be remembered that both are equally important..

[Nick]

As a trainer /assessor with Fesa I personally have a problem with one unit does all . Given that the Four services that Fesa represents all have different training criteria and needs it would be impossible to have members that are trained to turn out to all incidences . As it is each service has specialist needs and all find it difficult to provide continuation training in all facets . Adding Storm damage , Map and Navigation, Operations, Advaced communications etc to the average BFS unit in addition to the ongoing training that they need to keep currency and vice versa for SES or VMRS units means some specialist skills are going to suffer. Cross training is good but they need to keep up the basic skills of the individual service .

[WPXZBP]

Many VF&RS brigades are now being equipped with 2.4U and 3.4 U (and the new HSRs could be 4wd too) which are capable of offroad stuff. Career F&RS brigades traditionally are supplied with MP and HP appliances which are not designed for offroad stuff - they are designed for fighting fires in built-up areas. That's why we have VBFS brigades.

For me, I don't care what colour a fire truck is - as long as it can put "the wet stuff on the hot stuff" - it could be pink with orange spots as far as I'm concerned.