Curious about BFB + VFRS response to fires

[woobla1]

I have a couple of questions I hope some members involved in the services bfb, vfrs and the other ones.

Do the BFB/ VFRS respond to many deliberate lit stuff such as bin fires etc? Like is it a large amount?.
How many jobs do you average a week?

And has there ever been times when no volunteers are available for a job? or not enough to run a truck? What happens then?. I mean especially in remote areas like collie, harvey , bunbury etc.. and further down south.

Thanks.

[WPXZBP]

Yes VFRS do get turned out to bin fires. I've been in two Brigades where this happens but from my experience it's not usually a common thing. (1½ years since I rejoined this Brigade and no bin fires yet.)

Turning out volunteers during the day can be especially hard. Not too many businesses like people dropping tools and running for the Station. (I'm lucky my employer has "Emergency Services Leave" but I still have to organise things so my replacement knows what to do.)

New procedures have been established by FESA to mobilise replacement crews where a call-out has failed. eg if Brookton VFRS get called to a HAZMAT incident and they fail to get a crew, the next closest VFRS Brigade (eg Pingelly) will be turned out. Similarly if Albany Career FRS is at a call and another comes through, Albany VFRS will be mobilised.

[wasaint]

Hey Woobla1 WP is correct as for were im located we attend about 1 job a week that is related to being deliberate IE; friday they set fire to the local toilets which are less than 4months old and this was the 2nd time in that time mind you . i would say that 75% are deliberate and the rest are natural and acccidental . as for turn out we are preaty lucky were we have been able to turn out at least 1 appliance to every call in the last 7 years most calls are a full turnout 2.4 urban ,2.4 rural and 1lt during winter and 2 LT during summer /During summer we are located in a Zone 2 area were by ComCen mobilize ourselves and the neareset Career station to every call no matter how big or how small Usauly Armadale 1st or Maddington also Helitacs are notified and put on Standby.

[woobla1]

Thankyou for replies.

[chrissss]

I have a couple of questions I hope some members involved in the services bfb, vfrs and the other ones.

Do the BFB/ VFRS respond to many deliberate lit stuff such as bin fires etc? Like is it a large amount?.
How many jobs do you average a week?

And has there ever been times when no volunteers are available for a job? or not enough to run a truck? What happens then?. I mean especially in remote areas like collie, harvey , bunbury etc.. and further down south.

Thanks.

Deliberate fires are the most common fires that brigades attend,as for bin fires most bin fires only happen in suburbia and the majority of vfrs and bfbs are on the outer urban areas so they generally dont attend these calls but if the call is in there area they will attend.

And with crewing a vehicle,as a volunteer you only can go if you can and im sure fesa understands this we are not expected to go to every fire or drop everything to go,some employers dont mind this though.
I know in my brigade if we couldnt crew a truck for some strange reason or if we had a couple of calls at once we would probably mobilise our neighbouring brigade to take the call.

hope this helps

[Millsy]

Where I am, We get Delibrate fire all the time.

We'll often get a call to bins, Porta-loo's and stolen vehicles in our area,

At the minute in Baldivis, We're pretty good with getting crews sorted.

There was a time in the last 18 months when we struggled to get a crew out the door, let alone on time. Now we're turning out under 10 minutes every call.

Having said that, There has been times when we haven't been able to get the crews, and in times like these we'll turn to our southerners ... The Singletonians. ( Anything structural Rockingham 1st / Hope valley are already mobile to anyways)

[Jonesy]

At times we have struggled to get a crew out of the station during the week, as most of us work, but thanks to the group call system, we usually know within minutes of getting the call if we can get a crew.

We have members spread all over the place so geeting a quick response somethimes just does not happen. Most calls we go to are backup or dual response anyways.

Our first appliance out is always the 2.4, no matter what call we have. (only exception is when assisting SES with clean up or the likes, or if a request comes in for LT'S only)

[woobla1]

interesting.

So if a remote region is only staffed by volunteers and the other crews are all vollies in surrounding areas, is there some sort of legal thing that they can force an employer to release you or something like that?. E.G if no one can turn out a crew.. is it pretty much then.. well wait until we can or just sit tight?

I guess its just the curse of having such a large country.

My other question is. How is the relationship the volunteers in country areas have with the police?. They must appreciate you turning up to put out stolen cars and other crime related fires all the time?. Especially for no pay.

[WPXZBP]

No WA laws currently compel business owners to release people to incidents.

In my area, as I said before, if a volunteer crew cannot be mobilised at all, the next closest crew that can do the job will be mobilised.

The Brigades I've been in/am in work well with the Police, SJA and SES.

[Jonesy]

We have a good relationship with the SES in our area; we are always keen to put a hand up to help then out like the period a couple of weeks back, and they usually return the favour when they can assist us with anything.

Police are usually on the ball too. A couple of time now when we have requested them to turn out or attend car fires of a suspecious nature they are always there, and usually follows with some intersting conversations and we always get thanks from them.

Have not been involved with an incident involving SJA yet (fingers crossed it does not happen) but i would assume that its all part of a days work for them anyways and if we can provide any assistance it is much appreciated.

No mater what the incident, there always seems to be a positive reaction to the presence and assistance of volly crews, no matter which organisation they belong to. Lets not forget the we all ultimately work for the same team in providing a service to the community that they would be stuffed without.

Cheers all

[Fastlane]

No WA laws currently compel business owners to release people to incidents.

although I Think you'll find Federal Laws protect you if you can't show for work due to being at an incident etc..

[woobla1]

thankyou for replies.

Perhaps they or FESA can lobby the government eventually to include some sort of leave in contracts, like defence personell in the reserves. Protection from dismissal, coverage of wages lost etc.. or something similiar along those lines. As said I bet a lot of communities would be .. without the volunteer services.

[SmashedXR6T]

No WA laws currently compel business owners to release people to incidents.

In my area, as I said before, if a volunteer crew cannot be mobilised at all, the next closest crew that can do the job will be mobilised.

The Brigades I've been in/am in work well with the Police, SJA and SES.

There is a general understanding usually made by the employer and employee bout when is suitable periods in the do to go if required. When my pager goes off and usually catch the boss and say my pager just went off is it alright to go and 9 times out of 10 there isn't any drama's. But you are protected under law to prevent employers terminating your employment if you have been attending an incident.

With turnouts if have been with brigades where the nearest vrfs unit could be a good 1-2hrs away! Quite regulary we would pending on the job it could only be 2 of us in the LT or the Pump go straight away and 20mins later we could have the rest of the crew rock up in the other appliance or in private cars. I remember being in Esperance when we were called to a kitchen fire in one of the shopping markets with a deli attached to it, I had to wait a good 15mins just for another crew member to turn-out with a crew of 2 in the LP and i got the other guy to don BA on and go inside (mind you it wasn't a raging fire or anything) and it was another 10mins before i could get another person to get in there to back him up!

[Tyranus]

No WA laws currently compel business owners to release people to incidents.

although I Think you'll find Federal Laws protect you if you can't show for work due to being at an incident etc..

Is that mainly for reserves though?? Or is it all built into the unfair dismissal. I know in most environments if you're not fit for work/driving then it's excusable. I had to do that with my last employer after SES callouts. Unfortunately with my current shift work I am also restricted in some ways to call outs at night as I may be required by a certain time to monitor phones, emails and ensure everything is running smoothly.

[Fastlane]

No WA laws currently compel business owners to release people to incidents.

although I Think you'll find Federal Laws protect you if you can't show for work due to being at an incident etc..

Is that mainly for reserves though?? Or is it all built into the unfair dismissal. I know in most environments if you're not fit for work/driving then it's excusable. I had to do that with my last employer after SES callouts. Unfortunately with my current shift work I am also restricted in some ways to call outs at night as I may be required by a certain time to monitor phones, emails and ensure everything is running smoothly.

http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/P ... ct2003.htm

or specifically:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinod ... /s659.html