Nsw fire service alerts now

[MITCHAY]

I've actually being looking at some of the systems you can get tonight funnily enough.

You can get some pretty hardcore protection systems but they are obviously cost prohibitive. Separate water and power systems.

I remember having the hose going constantly, you'd barely wet something and it would be dry soon enough.

It was so tiring and stressful so obviously something purpose built on the house frees you up a bit for spot fires and this was not even in the dangerous spots.

[chamb0]

If you live in a very fire prone area I would stress the importance of looking at the weather conditions at least 24 hours plus in advance and plan accordingly whether you will be leaving or staying, before the heat of the day and long before the reports of a nearby fire catches you by surprise and forces you to decide. As a member of the general public, if you find yourself making spur of the moment reactive decisions you have left it far too late.

We'd hope that the improved management and communication procedures put in place since Black Saturday would result in better warnings and outcomes, but I still don't think they should be relied upon for short term decision-making by the public. And if the fire danger levels are high enough, sometimes no amount of preparation, equipment or protective gear is enough. I guess what I’m saying is: be very aware of the fire risk of your surroundings, and if it is severe, don’t put unreasonable faith in the alert system to keep you in the loop - or your personal setup to keep you safe - when the much better option is to avoid the situation altogether.

On Black Sat even people who enacted well-thought out stay and defend fire plans in advance perished. We had always thought a tidy house and yard, strong neighbourhood network, safely built houses, capable equipment and a clear plan would be enough, and I suppose normally they would be, but in under those conditions they weren’t. I don’t think we really knew before then what a bushfire was capable of, we should all be more aware now. From personal experience, the completely disorienting confusion of being totally cut off from the outside world, as phone, radio comms, vision and all outside assistance goes on the blink, happened in a way I did not think possible in this modern day and age. And I was working in the relatively well-resourced emergency services, the confusion would have been worse for the public.


As Yeti said, there’s no shortage of people out there who think thongs, shorts, a beer in hand, a mobile phone and a garden hose round the back is a great way to handle an approaching fire. I couldn’t believe it but up on the ridges I saw many of these people drifting around their homes sinking cans right up until the moment the fire hit, when clearly there was something pretty ugly about to happen. A lot of them then tried to drive away.

Under severe enough conditions, pumps fail due to lack of oxygen and radiant heat melts pipes and lines, metal sprinklers melt, water evaporates mid-air and vehicles break down (you can’t see anyway), leaving you defenceless when you need them most. Firefighting efforts are practically ineffective and you’re better off being far, far away in a place of safety. It's not common for it to be so bad, but then again that's what we thought in Feb 2009. Material stuff can always be replaced but loved ones can't. I still shake now when I smell smoke, almost 4 years later. Please stay prepared and have the foresight and courage to leave early in these types of areas!

[Agent86]

Originally Posted by chamb0

If you live in a very fire prone area I would stress the importance of looking at the weather conditions at least 24 hours plus in advance and plan accordingly whether you will be leaving or staying, before the heat of the day and long before the reports of a nearby fire catches you by surprise and forces you to decide. As a member of the general public, if you find yourself making spur of the moment reactive decisions you have left it far too late.

We'd hope that the improved management and communication procedures put in place since Black Saturday would result in better warnings and outcomes, but I still don't think they should be relied upon for short term decision-making by the public. And if the fire danger levels are high enough, sometimes no amount of preparation, equipment or protective gear is enough. I guess what I’m saying is: be very aware of the fire risk of your surroundings, and if it is severe, don’t put unreasonable faith in the alert system to keep you in the loop - or your personal setup to keep you safe - when the much better option is to avoid the situation altogether.

On Black Sat even people who enacted well-thought out stay and defend fire plans in advance perished. We had always thought a tidy house and yard, strong neighbourhood network, safely built houses, capable equipment and a clear plan would be enough, and I suppose normally they would be, but in under those conditions they weren’t. I don’t think we really knew before then what a bushfire was capable of, we should all be more aware now. From personal experience, the completely disorienting confusion of being totally cut off from the outside world, as phone, radio comms, vision and all outside assistance goes on the blink, happened in a way I did not think possible in this modern day and age. And I was working in the relatively well-resourced emergency services, the confusion would have been worse for the public.


As Yeti said, there’s no shortage of people out there who think thongs, shorts, a beer in hand, a mobile phone and a garden hose round the back is a great way to handle an approaching fire. I couldn’t believe it but up on the ridges I saw many of these people drifting around their homes sinking cans right up until the moment the fire hit, when clearly there was something pretty ugly about to happen. A lot of them then tried to drive away.

Under severe enough conditions, pumps fail due to lack of oxygen and radiant heat melts pipes and lines, metal sprinklers melt, water evaporates mid-air and vehicles break down (you can’t see anyway), leaving you defenceless when you need them most. Firefighting efforts are practically ineffective and you’re better off being far, far away in a place of safety. It's not common for it to be so bad, but then again that's what we thought in Feb 2009. Material stuff can always be replaced but loved ones can't. I still shake now when I smell smoke, almost 4 years later. Please stay prepared and have the foresight and courage to leave early in these types of areas!

I had a bit of a say on the council thread regarding some of my thoughts on the whole situation, but the long and short of it is, too many of the people in kinglake died due to **** poor communication leading to police blockign all roads out of the area, and directing people the other way- head on at eachother... amongst other things

[hawkgirl]

and all the preparation in the world isnt much use when your neighbour is a state forest / national park & hazard reduction is verboten.

some friends of family have lost homes etc in the fire now at bugaldie. Getting updates from friends in baradine - the weather will be 40 deg again thur - fri so if the wind picks up they may be in trouble.

[NickyN]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

Not as technical as it sounds 2 tanks 2 petrol powered fire pumps, plumbed to sprinkler heads, start the pumps and go, if you don't over rev it the tanks have enough water for a bit over an hour, yea the pumps will then run dry until they run out of fuel and stuff the impellers but its a small price to pay

Sounds like agent 86 has a similar thing going,

It's not uncommon in fire prone areas, mine doesn't really fall into that but I had the stuff so I did it, that and the guy next doors place is overgrown to buggery so ember attack would be my biggest risk not direct fire

Even in fire prone areas like in Cali, I've never heard of this kind of setup. It could really save property and even lives. Good for you that you have that system at your place.

And thanks for the info about temperature this past wkend.

Any word the heat wave is near the end already?

[The Yeti]

Ooooo no no no, this is just a lets hope type thing there is no way my bum points to the ground would I rely on this system

I liken it to an overrun protection system on our tankers,

It's a nice feature but we hope never to need it, and if any thing else can be done to avoide needing it do that

I wont post pics of what I have done becasue it is a home handyman design based soley on my experiance and there is no fire science in its design but this pic was taken off the CFA website and it demonstrates what I'm talking about


http://www.cfs.sa.gov.au/site/prepar...er_systems.jsp

this doesnt fight the fire all it does is cool and wet the house so it is harder for spot fires to take hold on your home, its by no means fool proof.

my situation is as such my block is cleared of fallen timber, leaf litter etc my biggest risk is the block next door has what I can only describe as a high fuel loading, my shed is with in 10m of the boundery, and my house within 30.

fortunatly these hot winds tend to come from the west /norwest and the property in question is to my east, so when the **** storm happens I hope the wind gods are on my side, the my house has 50+ m to the western boundery and the block on the western side is also well prepaired so I'm confident that we are well set up that way

as for the end of the heat wave, were predicted to have another hot couple of days, this week, I have mates on crews up north so I hope it all goes well for them

[Agent86]

Our system is on the ridge and uses larger sprinkler heads, but ultimatley is a very similar.

Those last resort deluge systems on the trucks are great.

What brought about their introduction?
The guys out my way really could have used them!

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by Agent86

Our system is on the ridge and uses larger sprinkler heads, but ultimatley is a very similar.

Those last resort deluge systems on the trucks are great.

What brought about their introduction?
The guys out my way really could have used them!

every new RFS & FR NSW tanker gets this as standard fitment they also have roll down reflective blinds and blankets for the crew to climb under to protect them in the event of overun (never been in one never want to be)
alot of the older tankers still kicking arround have in brigade designed systems that comprise of a nozzel set to fan and pointing up in the center of the crew bay.

what cased it to be introduced, basiacly fire fighters getting over run

you never want this to happen but it does so the best bet is to prepair the truck. keep in mind the truck will be pretty sad after the fires passed though

[The Yeti]

I was looking for a video on the crew protection and found this that shows ember attack I dont know if its of interest to any one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfIRo92DyXA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgLH_fZZxVM


heres one with crew protection but not the one I was looking for

RFS unit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o06gL...ature=youtu.be
CFA unit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxG1sUxR_6c

[The Yeti]

Sydney city has just had its hottest day since 1939 45.3* its hotter out west

Nicky thats 113.54f

[Agent86]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

what cased it to be introduced, basiacly fire fighters getting over run

you never want this to happen but it does so the best bet is to prepair the truck. keep in mind the truck will be pretty sad after the fires passed though

Its a great idea.
The boys down here didnt have that four years ago.

After seing one of the pump trucks that was over run, after they took a last ditch punt and drove through the flame front, i know this will save lives.

I still want to personally shake the hands of those who risked everything that day, pitty that i haveonly ever came across the local guys.

Keep safe out there yeti.

[mac_man_luke]

Was listening to a online scanner for VIC CFA today.

"Closing up and Sprayers on, Surrounded by flames"

I didnt sound like the situation was too bad but
shows safety systems are definitely important.

[The Yeti]

That don't sound great

[NickyN]

Originally Posted by mac_man_luke

Was listening to a online scanner for VIC CFA today.

"Closing up and Sprayers on, Surrounded by flames"

I didnt sound like the situation was too bad but
shows safety systems are definitely important.

Any info how it turned out? Are they ok?

Originally Posted by The Yeti

Sydney city has just had its hottest day since 1939 45.3* its hotter out west

Nicky thats 113.54f

Thanks for the update! I read that cooler weather and rain has hit.....and lots of it. Hope that's the end of all this heat wave and finally, AU can cool off.

113.54 F sounds unbearably hot.

[The Yeti]

Some one posted this link on my FB wall it was at Karingai the other day


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjKxe...e_gdata_player

[NickyN]

Kudos to ALL emergency first responders......

And for keeping us all safe.

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by NickyN

Kudos to ALL emergency first responders......

And for keeping us all safe.

Thanks but we're (They're) all just people doing our bit, other people do their bit in other ways, I dont see us as any differnt than the SES, VRA or any other comuity support organisation. If some one does this for the TV time their doing it for the wrong reasons.


Ive had quite a few mates up north at Coonabarabran, my old RFS Brigade went up with 2 crews and I have to say i'm a little jelious of one of the guys, he's a Snr Fire fighter with me at FR NSW but he joined up 2 years ago with Londonderry with his 16yo son his son wanted to join and at 16 isnt old enough to joint FR NSW and that can take years any way (As I well know) so they went away for the week to Coona and by all reports had a ball, any how the night shift crew contained my brother in law, this father and son team and another good mate of mine, and they recon they didnt stop from the time they got their bum's in the truck until the sun rose the next morning, theyre not the kind of guys to take photos though, and they ones the ydid were of down time and its not the best idea to post them :

another mate of min is out Dubbo and sent be these last night




Me I couldnt take a trick, for some reason my RF NSW Tanker was left at home for the whole campain :cry: it got a 4 hour run over near Penrith last thrursday night but I was rostered off :cry: and came on line again at midnight (5mis after the stop was put in)


But I did get a run a few hours later when some little ***** decided it would be fun to light a street full of wheely bins including the one out side TH Williams Automotive that happend to also be under the power lines and quickly set fire to the entier building, foruntaly we caught it before it got in to the shops next door and the historical Blackhorse Inn that shares the same roof, and I think only 1 car ended up getting damaged by falling ash and crap and Asbestos contamination other than that the other 10 - 20 customers cars the owners race boat and is really nice XL falcon all got out of it OK and the guy was open for business the following afternoon through the side door.

the following night we got a call to Coldys Tow Bars in McGraths Hill, that was a going hard and fully involved when the first pump arrived, Our Pumper & Tanker were the 2nd arriving station and this is how far down the line WE had to get water

If you squint you can see our tanker in the distance


infront of our Tanker we squeezed Rivo's Pumper and we had our pumper infront of that


this one was taken a little while later at sunrise

if you squint you can see me on the end of a lenght of 70 but it realy was just a foot path job at that stage

Heres some photos taken by James Kerr of the Sydney Region East's Task force to Coona, these were taken on the team that just came back, so they are of the containment lines and mopup not the direct action shots or property protection but James isnt a bad snapper so the pics are pretty good

[NickyN]

You're more than right, the ones who do it for the glory are in it for the wrong reason.

I squinted and saw your tanker and maybe you?

I hope the idiots (can I write that here?) who started that fire were caught.....talk about stupid. Because of their actions, property was lost all because they wanted some fun? They're lucky no lives were lost and firefighers weren't injured. You know what they say, "you can't cure stupid." We have them here too.

You know, some of those photos by James Kerr look like they could be in a magazine. I'm not an expert but the first 2 and last 2 are really good shots.

[The Yeti]

That last shot I think could be of my sister inlaw, it looks alot like her she was on the night shift when these were taken and holds the same rank as her, but she looks about 10 years younger in that photo

Ive sent the pick to her but I was smart enough you to say hey this lookls like a young you

OK I was wrong its not her and I asked with tact when she said it wasnt and that it was a girl from another brigade, it was then that I said it might have just been a "good" photo casue she looks alot younger (the phones ringing now and I'm not answering )

[hawkgirl]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

Some one posted this link on my FB wall it was at Karingai the other day

yeah, he's one of our bike forum guys.

[redxm]

Ive just returned from a 10 day stint in Coonabarabran. The destruction is unbeleivable. About 50 houses lost, countless sheds/buildings and stock lost and over 50000 hectares burnt.
I wasnt on the fireline but doing my bit as a radio tech for the RFS and NPWS. I didnt get much chance to take many photos as I had my ring hanging out all week.
While the houses lost is tragic (and quite a few working in the RFS HQ lost houses themselves) the ones that were saved were no mean feet. A lot I saw were burnt to within a meter or two of the building.
The burnt scrub and buildings in these photos is from Siding Springs Observatory, where there is also a RFS Comms site. Usually the on site generator will kick in within a minute or two of mains power loss. Unfortunately it was lost in the fire. So at 3am under Police escort I was dodging fallen power lines and trees to access the site and hook a generator up. This is the main radio site for RFS in Coona, so you can imagine the chaos that resulted.
I averaged about 4-5 hours sleep all week and did over 110 hours. Having said that the men and women on the ground did it tougher than me.

[The Yeti]

Great pics Red! Great work

And like I said every one does their bit, wether it be com's radio tech, logistics, whatever, if some one doesn't do thir bit the whole lot turns to ****

[NickyN]

I just found out that National Emergency Notification Alerts are here too.....as long as the phone has it enabled and the carrier is offering it, not all carriers do it, I guess.

[The Yeti]

Just say this and thought some of you may find it interesting

http://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2...29/3513673.htm

[redxm]

Nice setup.