Guys, in an emergency we can (as well as you) do anything (read the act!).
As long as it is deemed as justified & a risk assessment is completed.
Having said that there is an instruction out that currently we don't fell trees, unless qualified to do so! And they are looking into us doing the felling course.
However as an OIC I was at an incident
and there was a significant risk to the public or other emergency workers
and there wasn't a chance to get a qualified contractor in to do job in a timely manner
and there was no other way of controlling the hazard
and we had qualified operators
and we could do the job safely
- then refer to my opening comments!
Newcastle NSW taught us that there were more than one way to skin a cat! and that felling a whole tree my not be the safest/expedient option - due to safety concerns, number of jobs etc, experienced operators can reduce the threat of a tree without having to drop the thing!
Finally some of the comments are puzzling "Under the command of a CFS Officer?" is this in relation to a fire or storm? Because if it's a storm then the lead agency is SES not CFS it does not matter where it is in the state.
Contractor can if they have done parts of BFF1 - obviously in relation to fire grounds only.
NPWS if possible/ practical - again fire ground. NPWS do not get involved in storm ops, local councils tend to shy away from storm ops as well (mind you their front end loaders come in handy).
So in closing I think you know what the answer is
![wink :wink:](http://www.safirefighter.com/boards/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
Hopefully this current stupid situation will be fixed in the near future as it is an insult to those who have years of experience in doing these types of activities and yet no can't (however I doubt it)
cheers