Change in fire fighting tactics

[jameswillcourt]

Gday my name is James willcourt and i am 15 years old and a cadet at the Barmera cfs station. I am currently doing a school project on the changes that have occured in the way that the cfs approaches and fights fires.

Any information would be much apreciated.
I can be contacted on my email [email protected]

Thanx

[Firefrog]

I will post a few thougths here.

The biggest changes I have seen since I joined in 1993 have been:

One of the most significant tactical changes has been with structural fire attack. This was brought into SACFS a few years ago now. Compartment Fire Training began in Sweden when fire fighters and scientists began to work together to understand what is happening in compartments when on fire. The result was realistic fire behaviour training - trainees get to see the phenomenon (flashover, backdraught etc.)as it happens and learns what to do.

The first Australian Fire Service to use this type of training was the Queensland Fire and Rescue Authority under the leadership of Shan Raffel, who travelled to Sweden and England to see what was being done in those countries.

Wayne Atkins From SACFS initially led the Charge bringing Compartment training into South Australia. Brett Pollini is now in charge of Built Environs Training which includes Compartment fire training.

This training is the most significant change in tactical thinking a fire fighter can undertake.

Another significant change during the last ten years has been the increasing use of aerial fire attack from both fixed wing and rotary aircraft.

Turnout Gear - From overalls and a woolen coat for BA work, to a two piece nomex kit and now to PBI Gold.

Probably the most controversial change has been the introduction of the GRN.

Also a major change probably began just over ten years ago with the introduction of AIIMS and ICS concepts. This has had it's teething problems but appears back on track.

Hope these few thoughts are helpful

[Robert-Robert34]

During my 10 years of being a CFS volunteer which includes 6 years active service i've seen many changes to fire fighting tactics

Changes i've seen since my induction as a CFS cadet in 1995

The CFS logo on all trucks have changed from the red,yellow,green and blue  star to a red & yellow state logo

The original direct attack method of combating grass fires was jump off the truck on arrival and extinguish the fire with a jet stream of water even though this tactic is still widely popular the new tactic is chasing a running grass fire and supressing it from the truck

CFS helmets have also changed the first one i remembering having when i was inducted to the SACFS fire fighting ranks was a white helmet with a velcro chin strap now we have helmets of similar style but offer face & neck protection and with clip up chin straps

CFS communications has also come along way with the original method of paging being done through a network of fire phones if a callout was recieved through a brigades number the call would go directly to the fire phone of one of the volunteers who would answer the call and activate the station siren via a small button on the phone

Even though the fire phone system is still being used SAGRN paging allows volunteers to know what they are responding to by looking at the response message on their pager

CFS radio communications like paging has come along way with VHF radios being used for fire ground and training and this caused a real headache as 3 or 4 trucks tried talking on the one channel at the same time but now with the GRN only one unit can talk at a time rather than all at once


Hope this info is a real good help to your project

[strikeathird]

Yellow, green and blue CFS stars... ?   Um............ 

[Robert-Robert34]

What i mean by that strikeathird is the colour combination of our original logo